


Shake Me Up

by Sonamae



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, Internal Monologue, Issues with letting go, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multiple Pairings, One Sided Relationships, Other, Over Dose, Rambling of the Karkat Variety, Seizure, Trans Bashing, Trans Characters, Trans Defending, Underaged Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-07-15
Packaged: 2017-11-06 08:53:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/417040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonamae/pseuds/Sonamae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux has always had trouble letting things go, he lingers when he knows he shouldn't and he's afraid no amount of growing up is going to change that.  Yet when he meets Eridan, he wants to change just to prove the douche bag wrong, even if it hurts.  His friends drag him through their drama and Eridan just laughs as Sollux is put in the middle of the circle.  There's a lot of hand holding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a Human!Stuck AU that I wrote for Emily, and it was originally only going to be four thousand words long. Twenty-four thousand later after my cut off I realized that OOPS, not what she had in mind. She'd only thought she was getting four thousand words anyway, so hey. Emily still loves it, and I have to thank her for this idea because it was a whole lot of fun. Also huge set of thanks to Jenn, Mur, Leelee, and Kyra for editing for me because I am dumb and they are not. How do descriptions?  
> Human!Stuck's are fun to play with, just saying.

Her name was Feferi Pexeis, and she kept changing Sollux Captor's life by association.  The first time they met neither of them realized it, and never actually would, truth be told.  Sollux was about to be two years old and his mother was still letting him roam around on her hip at parties and crazy soiree just to show him off to anyone who would look at him.  Her baby was special after all, she had every right as a mother to brag about his slight heterochromia and intelligence.  He kind of really loved the attention.  
  
 His father was busy talking to some thick accented tall man with weird spiky hair and a woman in a dress that looked like someone had painted it on her.  She was carrying a bright eyed, pink clad baby who was, in fact, Feferi.  Standing next to her and clinging to one of the folds of her dress was a boy with glasses far too big for his face, that was Eridan.  To a certain two year old Sollux, he looked really dumb.  
  
 Later on, Sollux was set down in another room when 'Business called' with the other kid and the baby. He had been looked over like he was covered in mud by the one who wasn't drooling over her teething ring. "Who are you?" the kid had asked, pointing a glittery finger at him.  Sollux rolled his eyes and looked away.  
  
 "Tholluk," he yawned after he said it and crawled toward the baby.  He was just some kid, not like he cared at all.  
  
 "Well I'm Eri and that's Fef, you have to be our friend now," the kid said as he sat down opposite Sollux.  
  
 "Why?" Sollux asked, blinking up at this other kid in confusion.  'Eri' rolled his eyes and swayed with the near full body force of it.  
  
 "Because," he drawled, "our parents are friends, so we're gonna be friends," Sollux just ignored him and waved one of the toy rattles over the babies head.  She was cute and quiet, he liked her a lot because she didn't talk and she just made grabby hands at things.  Eri kept talking even though he was being ignored, and eventually Sollux pushed him into a pile of puzzle blocks to see if he would shut up.  He didn't get back up, but Sollux didn't think anything about it, he just kept playing with Fef.  
  
 By the time his parents came back Eridan had come around and was blinking up at his mother in confusion and complaining of a headache.  He didn't say anything else, but he looked... lost.  Sollux didn't see them again for a long time.  
  
\--  
  
 When Sollux was five years old he developed a stutter when his daddy told him he was leaving his mommy and that he would be going with him.  He didn't understand why he had to sell a bunch of his toys that mommy had given him and move into a small apartment while daddy 'redid the house', and he didn't know why his daddy couldn't stop crying at night.  He _did_ know that he was going to hate his mommy for the rest of his life though, no one made his father cry!  You just didn't do that, you don't make daddies of any sort cry.  It was blasphemy.  Right up there with not having chocolate milk in school.  
  
\--  
  
 At eight years old, Sollux had forgotten about his mother entirely and was busy fighting off what his doctor had called chronic migraines.  His dad was always at his side when they hit, and so was Mr. Craig Kilops, but that made sense at the time since he was Sollux's doctor.  According to Mr. Kilops, the headaches were mostly light induced and worsened by the heterochromia and having little to no pigmentation in his eyes.  That caused more light to enter.  It led to a long discussion with the three of them talking about moving Sollux's room into the basement.  It made him ecstatic.  
  
 It took two weeks for the room to be ready, and when his dad and Mr. Kilops presented it, they were holding hands.  
  
\--  
  
When Sollux was ten he passed by his father's study and caught Mr. Kilops and his dad kissing.  He shrugged and decided that he leave before he got caught and went on his way.  Neither of them saw him so he just went into the kitchen to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  Extra honey this time, his sweet tooth was killing him.  Three weeks later and the two men announced that they were in love, and if it would be alright if they dated.  Sollux simply asked them why they weren't already.  
  
\--  
  
 At eleven years old his dad decided he wanted to get married to his lover and Sollux met his first girlfriend, Aradia Megido.  She was this sweet girl with massive ringlets of dark auburn hair and she liked digging in sand boxes and beating up bullies.  They'd met in science class and became lab partners, and Sollux knew he wanted to be with her forever.  He told her so a few weeks later and she kissed him in gym class in front of all the other kids, he fell in love with her so hard he thought his skull had cracked on the way down.  
  
 Aradia loved his dads, and she would stick up for them when people tried to tease Sollux about them.  Personally he couldn't give a flying fuck what they thought, but he loved how quickly Aradia always jumped to his aid.  She was a firecracker and spent all her time in school trying to talk to him, passing notes and making up codes for the both of them to use.  
  
 He loved her more than the whole world, and he couldn't stop loving her.  She had the sweetest laugh and the warmest hands and she loved his dorky lisp.  She even bought him these 'adorable' dual-colored sunglasses when he admitted he couldn't decide what color he liked more, red or blue.  They were just shitty 3D things, but she promised him she'd get him something better later on.  For their one year anniversary as a 'couple,' she gave him frameless red and blue glasses with silver wired legs.  The tint was amazing on his eyes and they kissed before one of his dads came in and dropped a tray of hot chocolate in shock.  
  
 He bought Aradia a ticket to a 'Dinosaur Park' in return, he'd honestly never seen someone jump so high or scream so loud in his entire life.  They spent the entire day there, even got matching sunburns.  They held hands on the way back to Aradia's house and she fell asleep on Sollux's shoulder, whispering the first I love you of many to come.    
  
 The next year they agreed to just have a simply movie date like a normal couple.  It went well for the first twenty minutes, but they were so bored they both ran out after Aradia had pushed open the fire escape and decided they would flee for their lives.  They should have gotten into so much trouble, but hidden under hoodies and baggy clothes they just ran across the street to Six Flags and jumped the fence together to enjoy the rest of the day until Aradia's mother texted her saying she needed to get home.  The next few days they were worried sick about getting caught, so they stayed on lock down in their roomsand were glued to their phones.  
  
 The summer before High School Aradia ran away from home because her mother told her they were going to 'move back to India,' and she had to leave everything behind.  Sollux tried everything to convince her mother to stay, but she wouldn't listen to him.  He cried so hard he got a migraine from hell and begged Aradia stay to with him, his head in her lap as they whispered promises to one another about everything.  
  
 Love you forever.  
  
 Never forget you.  
  
 Call you all the time when we get a phone.  
  
 Email you when I get a computer.  
  
 Love you.  
  
 Love you so much.  
  
 Sollux missed the first week if High School because he couldn't get up, he knew he was starving himself and his father was worried sick.  At one point his dad broke into hysterical tears, pleading with him to eat.  It had been a week without Aradia and he just wanted to die, she hadn't texted him or written or emailed or _anything_.  He hated everything.  He'd been rushed to the hospital and put into the suicide ward, even though he hadn't tried anything, and he hated that too.  
  
 While he was there though, he met 'Karkat Fucking Vantas you skinny ass twisted piece of flunking garbage shit, who gave you the right to breathe in my general direction?  I will strangle you with that I.V. drip do you understand me?  Fuck you cock sucker!' right before they pumped him full of tranquilizers.  
  
 Now the best part of Karkat is and was, to Sollux's delight, is that he wasn't even admitted to the ward he was tranq'd in.  According to Karkat, he was checking on his 'stupid fucker of a cultist best not real brother' who had 'accidentally' over dosed on a bottle of his fathers pain killers when said father informed him he would be leaving for another three months on a business trip.  
  
 Karkat was in the hospital as a patient though, and had, much to his trying to hide it, stage one breast cancer.  He had punched Sollux when he caught him reading the chart at the end of his bed.  They then got into an epic fist fight, were put on 'lock down,' and had been best friends ever since.  
  
 After establishing that friendship based on bad-assery alone, Karkat had immediately introduced him to all his other friends after they stopped laughing at one another whenever they caught sight of their busted lip and black eye in the hallway.  Karkat led him into the hospital room his 'not brother' was in and started his introduction with an air of a smartass.  Sollux got little out of it other than 'Blah blah I'm a ranting breast cancer sporting ass hole,' so he decided he would form his own opinions.  
  
 The first person he met was Gamzee, and he was really kind even though he looked extremely sad a lot and had to be put in cuffs for random fits of rage.  Karkat commented that they were completely normal fits since the hospital wasn't letting him smoke.  That genuinely threw Sollux off for a moment, because he had only just entered high school and here Gamzee was smoking weed all the time to calm his nerves.  Gamzee had something or other-itis, which apparently made him freakishly violent, so to counteract it he smoked a lot of medical pot and took tranquilizers on and off.  
  
 When they came to visit Sollux met Kanaya, Terezi, and Feferi, in that order.  Now Kanaya he liked because she could throw a mean punch with her words alone, she also took him aside after a lunch meet up with Gamzee and Karkat and just looked at him.  It was terrifying and scary and never to be spoken of ever again because it prompted him to burst into tears and tell her his life story, which was apparently just a thing that made her Kanaya, as said by Gamzee.  Terezi was a freak and Sollux kind of loved her for it, she was 'legally blind' and had the brightest shade of red for hair he'd ever seen.  She also licked Karkat just to hear him scream, and she sought out his hand and engaged in a vicious debate about video games that rivaled Karkat's so epically he wanted to marry her for a moment, but then not because she was Terezi and she was wearing a dragon beanie and chewing on Karkat's arm while humming 'Puff The Magic Dragon.'  Bitch was crazy.  
  
 Feferi was... hell, she was sweet and kind and hugged everyone a lot and made god damn cupcakes that weren't nearly as sugary as she was.  She was always wearing an apron when she got there and giggled constantly, she also made fish puns and smacked Karkat every time he said a bad word, which was a lot.  At first Sollux thought she was kind of annoying, but then she said his glasses were cool and offered to trade her own just for fun and he just sort of fell for her as a friend.  Terezi had whined about not being included and they'd all spent the next several minutes switching around glasses until Gamzee had requested that someone uncuff him because he had to take a 'wicked piss.'  
  
 Karkat had obliged even though he shouldn't have, but Gamzee had remained perfectly calm while Karkat rambled on to his not brother in what sounded like Arabic.  He's walked him into the bathroom and then out again after a few minutes.  No one made a comment save Feferi, but hers was simply 'I've had to walk my brother to the bathroom a few times,' before they all started in on contact information.  The rest of his stay in the hospital was spent getting shoved full of food by Feferi after a comment about being kind of hungry, Kanaya demanding they have long talks about his feelings that his therapist got the short end of, Gamzee and Karkat being practically boyfriends all over everything, and Terezi swearing up and down she'd kick his ass at Halo so hard he'd be shooting bullets out of his toenails.  
  
 He almost didn't want to go home.  
  
 When the time finally _did_ come for him to head back, he squeezed onto Gamzee's hospital bed with his new friends as Karkat shouted and waved the camera in the air.  They all leaned close and a nurse had to be commandeered from the hallway when Gamzee demanded Karkat be in this 'motherfucking miracle picture or suffer the wrath of Gamzee and his pie Queen,' who was apparently Feferi.  Karkat swore he'd get him a copy of the picture and hugged him as tightly as he possibly could before running back to his room with some lame excuse so Sollux wouldn't see him cry.  
  
 When he got home there were seventeen different emails from Karkat, twelve from Terezi, and one from Feferi which simply had a link and the weirdest smiley face next to it.  The link directed him to a Home schooling website, which after much talk with his dads, he enrolled in.  He sent a reply to three separate email accounts and frowned when he realized he had nothing from Kanaya.  The next day though, he get a thick letter in the mail on jade green stationary.  He didn't feel so bad when he opened it and there were five pages crammed full of Kanaya's handwriting talking about how much she knew he'd be okay and how she was there for him.  
  
 Turns out all his new friends were home schooled, and they had more friends beyond that small group.  Terezi swore he'd love them, but Sollux had gone from adoring his friends to being paranoid about them all over again.  It took a little bit of convincing, but Sollux finally let Karkat into his house after he'd recovered from his 'tit surgery,' as Sollux had so lovingly started referring to any mention of it as those words and those words alone.  After a wrestling match and a nearly broken coffee table, they'd migrated back to Sollux's bedroom and Karkat had, without permission, installed a messaging program onto his desktop computer within minutes.  
  
 "Dude no, what the fuck, get off my computer." Sollux had nearly yanked Karkat from his computer while his friend laughed and buried his face in Sollux's chest with his hilarious grin.  
  
 "We all want to talk to you, shit stain, chill your fucking cookies." Karkat said while wrapping his arms around Sollux's chest.  For someone so pissy he sure did cuddle anything that walked upright... and probably most animals too.  
  
 "What if I don't want your thupid program?" Sollux asked him with a huff.  Karkat let him go and pulled back, raising his eyebrows skeptically. "Thut up," Sollux pushed his friend back into the chair and leaned over the desk as he started typing out a name to use as his address.  Karkat waited in the chair until Sollux relinquished the keyboard, then situated himself once again at the chat program and started adding name after name like a printer roller speeding through copy paper.  
  
 "So, I'm adding all our mutual friends and some of our friends mutual friends... and this douche bag.  Caligulas aquarium, he's Feferi's brother, but you don't _actually_ have to talk to him.  Pretty sure no one actually does.  He's never on anyway, but he made an account and Feferi gets all excited that maybe he'll make friends, but then she wants none of us to meet him you know?" Karkat rambled some more and Sollux shrugged as he stretched and stood up.  He blocked the screen as he threw his arms out in front of Karkat with a fake groan. "Oh my royal ass, dear godzilla, your twig figure is hogging up all my thinking space, go get me food," Karkat demanded with a dismissive wave of his hand, "I am your guest after all." Sollux laughed at the back of his head and walked across the room to fall onto his mattress.  He buried his face in the pillow he kept near the foot of his bed and inhaled, something familiar and strange filling his lungs until he choked in recognition.  
  
 "Aradia..." he whimpered as he sat up.  The pillow was pushed to the other side of the bed and Karkat's annoying fingernail tapping on the keys stopped, the low groan of the chair spinning made him look over his shoulder to see the frown on his friends face.  
  
 "You said someone's name," Karkat commented.  
  
 "No I didn't," Sollux denied.  
  
 "You did," Karkat said. "And you don't say people's names.  You call us by two letters, we have to be really special or in front of adults for you to call us by our names," Karkat pushed the chair away from the desk and got to his feet. "I asked you why you were in that ward, and you said it was a mistake, was she-"  
  
 "A.A. didn't do anything!" Sollux flinched at his own shouting. "The... fuck, _she_ jutht..." he stopped and tried to think of what to say.  After a few minutes he felt the shift of the bed as someone sat next to him.  
  
 "Hey, you don't have to tell me now, just..." Karkat wrapped both his arms around Sollux's shoulders and smiled as one of his friend's hands came up to rest on his wrist. "Just know that I'm here for you, stupid piece of shit that you are or not," Sollux laughed and pushed his friend across the bed until he fell into the mound of pillows.  Karkat sat up after a few minutes and draped his feet across Sollux's lap, earning him a scowl.  He wiggled his toes beneath his socks and laughed when Sollux smacked him in the leg. "There you go, you feel better already."  
  
 Sollux shoved Karkat off him and smirked when his friend flailed and nearly fell off the bed. "Watch it, you zip sucking puss boner, I could have torn my scar open!" Karkat snarled.  Sollux just laughed harder and fell back onto the mattress.  He'd tell Karkat about Aradia later, just... not yet.


	2. Two

A month later and Sollux hated Terezi with a burning passion.  Not an actual hate though because that would have been really stupid, he hated her in the 'Thith fucking blind bitch jutht thot me again out of no where how doeth the even keep finding me fuck you Pyrope I can hear you laughing through thith headthet!' kind of hate.  She was laughing at him over the headset and he hissed back at her as he tried to shoot in her tower.  
  
 "Give up Helmsman, your ass has been handed to you once again by none other that the undefeated, Redglare," there was a gun shot on the game and then Sollux's screen went red as his character pronounced himself dead.   Again. "Need I say it?  I shall."  
  
 "Fuck you, TZ."  
  
 "Boom, headshot!" Terezi cackled into her microphone as Sollux grumbled under his breath. "What now Captor, what now?" he could practically see her raising her arms in question.  
  
 "Theriouthly, fuck you," he laughed and blinked over at his computer's clock. "Thit TZ, it'th like... two in the morning.  Don't you have a video conference with your teacherth in a few hourth?" he asked her as he fought back a yawn.  
  
 There was the click of a mouse on the other end as Terezi logged off the game, then the slurp of her sipping at her straw. "Yeah, but I'm blind remember?  If I'm not looking at the camera they can't really say anything to me.  I mean shit, that's offensive," Sollux could hear the smirk in her voice.  
  
 "One of thethe dayth that'th not going to work TZ, and you're going to regret uthing it tho often," Sollux muttered.  There was that laughter he'd gotten used to again, then it stopped abruptly when a door creaked open behind Terezi and echoed through the headset.  Everything in her room creaked, she complained when things were silent and Sollux had picked up a habit of tapping something in her presence to let her know he was still there.  
  
 "Get out of my room Vriska!" Terezi shouted before snatching off her headset. "I said get out!" Sollux could hear the two girls bickering, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.  He exited out of the game and watched blearily as someone logged on to the instant messenger, but he didn't pay any attention to the name.  The only people who actively sought him out were Karkat and Terezi, and he was pretty sure Karkat was having a sleepover at Gamzee's while he waited for his dad to come home.  
  
 He stretched his legs beneath the desk and wondered when his life went from pushing fire alarms in movie theaters to staying up until two in the morning getting his ass handed to him by a blind chick on computer games.  He was about to end the call with Terezi and crawl into bed and face her bitching in the morning when his notify button pinged at him.  The opening line was simply 'Urgent'.  At first he thought it was one of those annoying spam bots, but then he realized it was coming from Feferi of all people.  He clicked it and there were only two lines in the chat box.  
  
 'Urgent.'  
 'May I _please_ call you?'  
  
 There wasn't any sign of her bubbly quirk that she took the time to throw in, no smile or frown emoticon, just plain text that sent a shiver down his spine.  Something was up on Feferi's end, and that was never good because the girl was made of humanized sugar cubes and fucking kittens.  Sollux hung up on Terezi and immediately got a 'Rude' in response, he'd helped her auto respond it for when Karkat rage quitted their voice chats.    
  
 He'd already clicked the 'Call Me' button before he thought to type a reply to Feferi.  He was almost done typing when she picked up, and he could hear her sniffling on the other end.  
  
 "F.F.?" she choked back a tearful laugh and he could hear her shaking her head.  
  
 "No I... I'm fine," she stumbled over it, her voice wobbling through her tears.  
  
 "Bull fucking thit," Sollux snapped. "What's wrong?  Are you okay?  Who do I have to beat-" her startled laughter hushed him before she broke into a round of heart wrenching sobs.  Sollux snatched his phone off the dresser and starting texting the first person he could thing of.  
  
 'kk fuckiing help ff2 cryiing fuck what do ii do??'  
  
 After a minute he fired off another text, Feferi still crying in his ears.  
  
 'kn what do you do when ff starts cryiing?'  
  
 Her first reply was almost instantaneous.  
  
 'Await The Holy Angels To Declare The Winner Of The Biblical Fight And Ready Ourselves For Our Eternal Continued Existence In Whatever Afterlife They See As Befitting For Our Souls'  
  
 Fucking Kanaya.  
  
 '2he2 actually cryiing though.'  
  
 That time he didn't get a reply, but a chirping sound on the other end of his microphone told him his friend had called Feferi's cell phone.  She apologized and he could hear her pick up the phone as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose into what he hoped was a tissue and not her sleeve.  There was a muffled, one sided conversation before Feferi laughed softly and started typing.  Sollux blinked at the text on his screen until it came into focus.  
  
 'thank you so much'  
  
 For some reason those words made his chest ache and he hadn't even done anything, he'd just panicked.  He typed back a simple 'no prob.' and then just listened to her sniffle and answer softly into her phone for a while.  Her voice was... oddly soothing, like some weird audio tape of the ocean people put on to fall asleep to.  He found himself nodding off and snapped awake to see that Feferi had hung up the call, gone offline and simply written 'you have the CUT---EST snore'.  Sollux smiled and relaxed back into his chair, maybe he'd have to talk to Feferi more.  
  
\--  
  
 'SUCK MY ELEGANTLY LONG, BEAUTIFULLY THICK COCK SOLLUX CAPTOR, THANKS TO YOUR TWISTED SENSE OF TIMING AND TERRIBL JOKE ABOUT THE PRINCESS OF THE FUCKING SUGAR KINGDOM THAT CLOGS OUR FUCKING ARTERIES SO HARD IT CRAWLS INTO OUR SPINE, YOU WOKE BOTH MYSELF AND GAMZEE UP JUST IN TIME TO WATCH HIS NUTFUCKER OF A FATHER DRIVE THE FUCK AWAY FROM THIS HOUSE!'  
  
 'GAMZEE IS PISSED!'  
  
 'FUCK NO.'  
  
 'GAMZEE IS CRYING.'  
  
 'SOLLUX MY BROTHER IS CRYING.'  
  
 'PICK UP YOUR FUCKING PHONE.'  
  
 'FINE FUCK YOU I GAVE HIM FAYGO, HE'S BETTER NOW.'  
  
 'KANAYA CALLED, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE SERIOUS ABOUT FEFERI!'  
  
 'ANSWER YOUR GOD DAMN PHONE!'  
  
 'REZI CALLED TOO, TOLD ME SHE HAD YOU UP ALL NIGHT KILLING YOU IN SOME SHOOTER.'  
  
 'SORRY I SNAPPED AT YOU.'  
  
 'STILL FRIENDS?'  
  
\--  
  
 'alway2 kk.'  
  
\--  
  
 The next morning was full of texts and schoolwork, and it wasn't until late in the afternoon that Sollux could log onto his chat program and scroll through the list of online assholes he wanted to bother.  Karkat was on, so was Gamzee, Terezi was surprisingly absent but Kanaya was on... and so was Feferi.  Before Sollux could even click on her chat box she beat him to it and the program pinged.  She had always been pretty punctual about internet tackles.  
  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] )(-EY Sollux! )(ow are you? 38D  
[twinArmageddons: ] ff. ii'm good, how are you?  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] o)( much better now!  tank you sooo much for t)(e otter night!  
[twinArmageddons: ] ...are you really throwiing fii2h pun2 at me?  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] you B-ETTA believe it. 38D  
[twinArmageddons: ] ii honestly have no iidea what two 2ay two you.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] w)(ale glub, you use puns too... i mean two!  
[twinArmageddons: ] ii can't tell iif thi2 i2 really cute or really annoyiing.  
[twinArmageddons: ] ...  
[twinArmageddons: ] ii mean, reely.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] -EEEEE Sollux you are so cute t)(oug)(!  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2o you keep telliing me.  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2erio2ly though ff, are you okay?  
[twinArmageddons: ] you weren't the other niight.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] Rig)(t, t)(at, I'm fin Sollux, my brot)(er was just admitted into t)(e )(ospital last nig)(t.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] )(e )(ad anot)(er seizure.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] Sollux?  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2orry ii ju2t... fuck, i'm going to stop with the immature quirk shit. is he okay?  
[twinArmageddons: ] i mean you told me you've had to take care of him before but he had a seizure?!  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] Yea)(, )(e gets t)(em if )(e gets too upset and can't clam down.  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] It's no big eel.  
[twinArmageddons: ] ff yes it is, don't joke about this, is he alright?  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] )(-E'S FINE! Clam down Sollux.  I was just overreacting.  
[twinArmageddons: ] ff thats not an overreaction  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] g2g  
  
 She signed off before he could continue typing and Sollux nearly screamed in frustration. He started slamming his fingers onto the keyboard at the next available person he could vent to.  
  
[twinArmageddons: ] why diid no one tell me ff2 brother wa2 that bad?!?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] WHAT IN THE FUCK OF ALL BIG TITTED PORN VIDEOS ARE YOU BITCHING ABOUT NOW?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I WAS ABOUT TO GET MY MACK ON.  
[twinArmageddons: ] alriight 2o after ii 2tab my eye2 out wiith thii2 pen, let me repeat my que2tiion.  
[twinArmageddons: ] why diid no one tell me ff2 brother wa2 that bad.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'THAT BAD,' CAPTOR.  DEFINE 'THAT BAD' IN YOUR DICTIONARY, TRANSLATE THIS LANGUAGE OF ASS HATTERY INTO ENGLISH, TRANSLATE THAT INTO ARABIC, THEN TALK TO ME.  
[twinArmageddons: ] kk, 2top fuckiing around. no one told me he had 2eiizure2.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] WHOA BACK THAT GRAND CANYON OF A FUCK UP AND EXPLAIN THIS?  
[twinArmageddons: ] well ff told me her brother ha2 liike... rage 2eizue2 or 2omethiing.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] SOMETHING WITH THE PEIXES BLOOD LINE CAN HAVE A SEIZURE BORN OUT OF THE PUREST RAGE?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] SOMETHING RELATED TO PEIXES CAN GET ANGRY?  
[twinArmageddons: ] kk thii2 ii2 not a joke.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] CHILL THE FUCK OUT PRINCESS, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FEFERI'S BROTHER OTHER THAN THAT HE'S A DOUCHE BAG.  IF YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW THE GIRL AND HER DEMENTED FREAK OF A SIBLING, PLEASE, TALK HER FUCKING EAR OFF.  JUST BE WARNED IN THE SPACE OF THIS LINE OF TEXT THAT GAMZEE IS IN LOVE WITH HER AND WILL BE LONG AFTER YOU HIT IT AND QUIT IT.  LET HER DOWN GENTLY SO I CAN FIND YOUR BODY AND BURY IT IN MY BACKYARD NEXT TO THE SHRINE OF YOUR FACE I'VE ERECTED FOR MY HATE MONGERING.  
[twinArmageddons: ] there are 2o many thiing2 wrong wiith what you ju2t 2aiid kk.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] TALK TO GAMZEE ABOUT HER BROTHER, I'M GOING TO MAKE OUT WITH A PERSON WITH A FACE.  
[twinArmageddons: ] tell tz ii 2ay hii.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] WHEN I SEE HER I WILL, UNTIL THEN, TYREL SAYS HELLO.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] YOLO BITCH.  
  
 Sollux stared at his screen and blinked until his eyes hurt.  Why the fuck was he friends with Karkat again?  
  
 No matter what the reason was, there had to be some sort of explanation behind all this.  Gamzee was online, but looking at his quirk would be like trying to drill a fucking migraine into the back of his skull, and he had been trying very hard not to get one of those this week.  Kanaya would always be his next best solution.  If she told him anything, that was.   Sadly, Kanaya would also be one of those excellent friends, and if you asked her not to tell someone something, she wouldn't... save if she thought it needed to be told.  Sollux clicked open a chat with her and prayed for the best.  
  
[twinArmageddons: ] kn, are you there?  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] Yes, I Am Only Wrapping Up A Chat With My Friend Tavros And His Frightening Friend, Vriska.  
[twinArmageddons: ] can ii a2k you about ff2 brother?  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] Yes, You Can.  
[twinArmageddons: ] wiill you tell me anythiing?  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] I Have Been Sworn To Secrecy, So I Will Not, Feel Free To Ask Your Questions Anyway.  I Will Happily Oblige Them With A Hum Or Nod At The Appropriate Moment For Reaction.  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2ometiime2 ii hate you 2o much.  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] Say That To My Face, Skinny White Boy.  
[twinArmageddons: ] hell no, you'd eat me wiith some friied chiicken.  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] More Like Some Fava Beans And A Nice Chianti.  
[twinArmageddons: ] you're terriifyiing.  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] I Know.  
[twinArmageddons: ] thank2 for nothiing, kn.  
[grimAuxiliatrix: ] You're Very Welcome.  
  
 Sollux clicked the little red x on the screen and groaned as he rubbed his temples, a habbit he'd picked up from Karkat, or because of Karkat maybe.  He'd have to ask Gamzee tomorrow, his head was throbbing and if he spent too much longer in front of his computer he'd never get his migraine to go away.  He set is status to invisible and switched his monitor off before stumbling over to bed.  He set his alarm for early and set the clock down next to the three pictures on his nightstand.  
  
 One picture was of his dad's at their wedding, both men leaning into each other and smiling as they squished Sollux between them and waved at the camera.  Another was of the last day in his hospital stay with his friends, all of them crammed together on Gamzee's bed and flashing genuinely stupid smiles.  The last one was turned toward his bed, a single shot of himself and Aradia sitting on the park bench outside the Six Flags as they waited for their ride to get there.  The both of them were smiling and holding hands, looking up at the stranger who they'd gotten to take their picture.  
  
 The rest of the things that ended up reminding him of Aradia usually got stuffed into a box in the back of his closet, but not this.  This Sollux kept out, and every night before bed he kissed his pinkie and pressed it to the glass covering Aradia's cheek.  
  
 "Thweet dreamth," no one ever said it back.


	3. Three

 Sollux was sixteen when he first 'met' Vriska and her friends, along with Eridan Ampora.  Terezi was absolutely mortified that she couldn't have kept her step-sister hidden from the world any longer, and Feferi had tried her hardest to make up excuse after excuse not to come to the sleep away camp for home schooled teens with her brother.  None actually worked.  She claimed she didn't want to go because it was too much money, but Sollux knew it was actually because if she went, so did Eridan, and if _he_ went, it meant people had to _meet_ him.  Sollux was starting to see through her bubbles and cheer by now, but he still couldn't wrap his head around what made her tick, or why Gamzee of all people was in love with her.  From what he'd gathered when Gamzee was sober enough for conversation, Feferi was 'A star in the sky that listened to the moon,' and he couldn't get enough of the conversation.  
  
 Even if he was high off his ass most of the time, Gamzee was fucking poetic.  
  
 The whole trip had been painstakingly organized by Karkat and some dude named Equius over several weeks.  Equius was a guy who seemed to be some sort of Italian drill sergeant with an itty bitty girlfriend who was glued to his side in every photo by the name of Nepeta, both were Vriska and Terezi's friends.  Karkat had said if anyone on the 'other team,' which Sollux guessed was just Karkat's way of saying 'this other group of people that I don't know,' was going to be able to work with him, it would always end up being Equius.  
  
 After several fights about locations between the two, which Sollux received about twenty texts on, all trying to get him to back Karkat up, the two teens both settled on a sort of sleep away camp that had air conditioning and on-sight medical equipment.  The group had taken a week to consecutively agree, and two weeks to make sure everyone's parents were onboard.  They had all agreed to meet in one cottage and Sollux could feel the dread through his computer screen every time he talked to Feferi.  He was going to leave on a flight in seven hours to get to the camp, and Feferi was busy blathering on about her Marine Science class just to keep from the real issue.  It wasn't the first time she'd done something like this.  
  
 Who was going in what cabin was what Sollux had been thinking about these days, since they'd reserved two of the family sized cabins to house everyone.  They were the crazy sized ones with a wall right down the middle and three beds on each side, which made no sense but apparently was just to make more space.  Sollux thanked his skill with hinting to Karkat that the camp they'd picked was coed though, because cramming them all into rooms by gender had raised up so many flags by Nepeta when he'd tried to talk to her the first time that he was sure she threw her computer out the window afterwards in a fit of rage.  After a lot of keyboard smashing and caps lock in a group chat, Sollux has been nominated as group leader of the blue cabin, while Karkat and Terezi bitched over who was going to be group leader of the red cabin.  
  
 Sollux, after suggesting Terezi, was immediately sent several dozen 'FUCK YOU's from Karkat via phone and chat client.

 After more shouting Terezi stepped down and told everyone she was really enjoying listening to Karkat scream at her on the other end of her headset.  Sollux had already set up a room plan in his head, which Karkat came in and flipped over when he heard of Sollux's idea to put Vriska in the same room with Tavros and Terezi, since they all knew each other.  
  
 "Never put Vriska in the same room with Terezi for long periods of time, it's like asking to be spoon-fed acid," Karkat muttered into Sollux's ear through his headset. "Also, never put Vriska anywhere near Tavros.  They have a history and it's not a pretty one," Karkat sighed into his microphone and Sollux winced as the puffy static.  
  
 "Do I even want to know where you got all your information?" he asked. "No, wait, don't anthwer that, you're a freak and that'th all I need to know," Karkat laughed into his ear and Sollux could hear his smile.  
  
 "Terezi does happen to tell me everything, even if I don't want to listen to half the goat fucking shit she's got to say," Karkat said before he paused and his voice went into a hushed tone as he switched to Arabic.  He prattled on for a few minutes before his voice lifted with a soft edge to it.  Before Sollux could even open his mouth to ask Karkat what that had been all about he heard something familiar... was that the sound of a kiss? "Sorry, Gamzee's over," Karkat mumbled.  Sollux decided right then and there that he would not ask.  
  
 "Whatever, how are we doing thith?" Sollux muttered. "Either way, I want to room with F.F., I want to keep an eye on her thince the'th tho thtrethed about thith trip," Karkat chuckled and Sollux heaved a sigh. "Pretty thure that F.F.'th brother won't let her out of hith thight, tho he can room with uth.  There, that'th one of the roomth," Sollux put little checks by the names on his list in front of him. "What about you?" he asked.  
  
 Karkat sighed and Sollux could hear papers being shuffled on his end.  That was when Feferi had started sending him nonsense about cuttlefish and their mating habits.  He knew she didn't expect him to reply, but he also knew she would wait for one and just ramble on until she got it.  After skimming a few lines about rocks, Karkat's voice broke through the static in Sollux's headset.  
  
 "So I know that I can't room Gamzee with anyone but myself, so maybe we should get the double room?" Sollux frowned and looked at his list.  
  
 "What about V.K.?" Karkat cursed and then started grumbling in Arabic again.  Sollux could hear Gamzee's lazy replies in that weird language, then the sound of macking again.  What the hell, he could have sworn they were cousin's or brothers or something... and that Gamzee was into Feferi.  Fuck he had weird friends. "K.K.!  Pay attention!" Sollux snapped when he swore he heard slurping.  There was only so much weird he could deal with in a day.  
  
 "Mmm, right.  She can bunk with me and Gamzee, if she's got any issues she can take it up with the boot I shove up her high and mighty ass," Karkat said with a laugh. "Also, Gamzee wants to request that Terezi and Kanaya get the double room, that way the other three don't feel awkward about being with people they don't know," Gamzee's low, honk like laughter filled the microphone and Sollux smiled.  
  
 "Tell G.Z. I think that'th a great idea, they, T.V. and them I mean, can be in my cabin too, that way V.K. ith farther away from him," Sollux said as he scribbled onto his charts.  
  
 "Why do you have to break everyone's name in two letters?  You're a freak Captor, a freak-a-leek so full of Crayola crayons you heave out the word cray cray in multicolored wax vomit," Karkat blathered on for a few more minutes before Gamzee said something, then he hushed.  
  
 "Right, leatht I'm not macking over there in front of my couthin," Sollux muttered as he pulled the headset off.  On his screen Karkat started typing.  
  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] WHAT?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] YOU DID NOT JUST TAKE YOUR SET OFF AFTER SAYING THAT.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] PUT IT BACK ON.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] FINE, FUCK YOU.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] GAMZEE AND ME... LOOK HE NEEDS AFFECTION OKAY?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] IT'S NOTHING GROSS, JUST A FEW PECKS HERE AND THERE.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] FUCK YOU I CAN HEAR THOSE FAKE GAGGING NOISES.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] HE JUST NEEDS SOMEONE TO REMIND HIM HE'S LOVED, WHATEVER KEEPS HIM FROM TRYING SOMETHING STUPID AGAIN SOLLUX.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I CAN'T LOSE HIM.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I WILL... FUCK HOLD ON.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] OKAY HE'S OUT OF THE ROOM.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] LOOK, GAMZEE ISN'T ACTUALLY MY COUSIN OKAY, IN FACT, HIS DAD'S NOT EVEN HIS BIOLOGICAL FATHER.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] HE DOESN'T KNOW, AND IF I HAVE IT MY WAY HE NEVER FUCKING WILL.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] HE'S STILL MY BROTHER, I HAVE BEEN CARRYING THIS STUPID LUG AROUND SINCE WE WERE INFANTS.  
[twinArmageddons: ] at lea2t untiil he 2hot up taller than you?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] FUCK YOU I AM NOT DONE TALKING OR GROWING.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] GAMZEE'S MOTHER WAS PREGNANT WHEN SHE STARTED DATING HIS DAD, AND THEN SHE GOT INTO THAT CAR ACCIDENT.  HE DOESN'T KNOW, HIS DAD'S NEVER GOING TO MAN UP, AND IF HE DOES I'LL RIP HIS GOD DAMNED BALLS OFF.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] HE LOVES THAT FUCKER MORE THAN HE SHOULD, AND THAT BASTARD IS NEVER THERE.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] BUT I AM!  
[twinArmageddons: ] kk.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE, AND I ALWAYS FUCKING WILL!  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I WILL TAKE CARE OF HIM UNTIL THE DAY HE DIES, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?  
[twinArmageddons: ] kk.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] THERE IS NOTHING I WOULDN'T DO FOR THIS FUCKER OF A CLOWN CULTIST.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I'D WATCH FOX AND THE HOUND FOR HIM.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] IN PUBLIC.  
[twinArmageddons: ] holy 2hiit.  
[twinArmageddons: ] ii mean... you hate that moviie don't you?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] ACTUALLY I LOVE IT, BUT IT MAKES ME SOB LIKE A TEENAGER BEING STOOD UP ON PROM NIGHT.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I CARE ABOUT HIM THAT MUCH, OKAY?  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] PLEASE JUST... DON'T TELL HIM, IF YOU DO THAT'S IT, NO MORE FRIENDSHIP, I WILL CUT YOU OUT AND OFF.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] DON'T MAKE ME DO THAT, YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS... FUCK EVEN KANAYA DOESN'T KNOW!  
[twinArmageddons: ] okay how i2 that even po22iible?  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2he'2 kn, 2he know2 everythiing.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] I ASKED HER NOT TO PRY.  BUT LOOK, I NEED TO GO CHECK ON HIM, PLEASE JUST... PROMISE ME YOU'LL STOP FREAKING OUT?  
[twinArmageddons: ] ii wa2n't freakiing out to begiin wiith but 2ure.  
[twinArmageddons: ] 2ecret ii2 2afe wiith me, kk.  
[carcinoGeneticist: ] STILL BEST FRIENDS?  
[twinArmageddons: ] alway2.  
  
 Sollux sighed and scrubbed at his face when Karkat's icon went idle and Feferi sent him another string of messages.  He skimmed over them and unhooked his headset to put it up in his suitcase.  
  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] call me PL--EASE.  
  
Without a second thought Sollux shoved the headset back into the computer and pressed the call button on the instant message box.  Feferi's answer was instantaneous.  
  
 "Sollux!" her voice was full of false cheer, and her microphone was static laden and puffy.  She had her speakers unplugged.  
  
 "F.F.," Sollux replied, then blinked when her webcam came up.  She was laying sprawled out on a bed covered in purple shimmer comforters and pillows, all of which obviously wasn't her style at all because she did everything in pink.  Any other color just wasn't _happy_ enough. "Where are you?" he asked.  She laughed and reached behind her, smacking something or someone.  
  
 "Eridan that tickles, stop, I'm on my webcam now," she giggled and lifted her foot into the air in view of the camera.  
  
 "Now dammit woman I wasn't done with that!" Eridan, said with a scolding smack to the back of her calf. "Hand it over before you smear somefin," Feferi giggled again and lowered her foot.  
  
 "Am I interupting thomething?" Sollux asked, eyebrow raised. "Do you want me to turn my camera on?"  
  
 "Oh no, don't worry about it Sollux, I just wanted to know if you'd picked which rooms we'll be staying in?" Feferi tilted her head and smiled, the fake cheer relaxed from her voice.  
  
 "Best hope we're together," Eridan grumbled.  Sollux caught a flash of purple hair, then he was out of sight again as he went back to painting Feferi's toenails.  At least Sollux hoped that's what he was doing. "Either with you or with Vris."  
  
 "You, me, and E.D. are in the thame room, jutht need to choothe which thide we want, left or right," Sollux said after Feferi scowled toward her brother.  When she heard the words every drop of tension visibly eased out of her, her head falling on her arms as she hummed.  
  
 "I like the left side, what about you Eridan?" Feferi asked with a soft smile unlike any Sollux had seen on her before.  It was startling, something Sollux had never had the privilege to get out of her with his own attempt at puns or jokes about bees, it nearly took his breath away.  
  
 He no longer wondered why Gamzee was in love with her.  
  
 "Yeah, whatever, left sounds fin," Eridan said with a wave of his hand.  Sollux saw a flash of far too many rings and a manicure Kanaya would have killed for.  
  
 "Eridan it's so cute when you use fish puns!" Feferi squealed.  
  
 "Glub you," Eridan said as he reached over for another bottle of nail polish, still staying out of the webcam's view.  
  
 "No, glub _you_ ," she practically chirped with excitement.  
  
 "Glub glub!" Eridan said back in a falsetto.  Feferi squealed and buried her face in her arms when Eridan raised his hands and made a quick fin puff at her with his fingers, face in the camera for a split second.  Sollux couldn't help but smile as Eridan reached over and tucked his sister's hair behind her ear when she'd calmed down, back to being out of sight.  How did Karkat ever get douche bag out of this guy?  
  
 "You're silly," Feferi said when she finally lifted her head. "Anyway, who else is going to be in our cabin?" she asked.  
  
 "Can I braid your hair?" Eridan asked suddenly.  It was so soft Sollux thought he might have imagined it.  
  
 "Of course you can, I love when you braid it," Feferi said, that same blazing smile turned away from the screen at her still mostly unseen brother.  
  
 "T.V., N.P. and E.Q. are going to be on the right side," Sollux said as he watched elegant hands slide through the waves of Feferi's hair.  That was something he never really expected to think about anyone's hands, or a guys for that matter.  Feferi blinked at the screen and mouthed the initials a few times, rolling them around in her mouth as she tried to figure them out. "Tavros, Nepeta, and Equius," he explained.  The names tasted foreign in his mouth, and not just because he didn't know them.  
  
 "Oh!" Feferi laughed and titled her head as Eridan started setting parts of her hair off into different sections. "Oh that's wonderful, I've heard they're all really nice," she smiled and it was calm and relaxed.  Eridan was still running his fingers through her hair, and for a moment Sollux was worried his rings would snag in the strands and that it would tug and hurt her. "Can't wait to meet them," Feferi said with a yawn.  
  
 "Best not stay on this call much longer then, little princess, you don't need to be wearin' yourself out before a plane ride," Eridan said with a click of his tongue.  Feferi nodded and yawned again as Eridan's hands worked on some intricate braid that made Sollux's head spin just trying to figure it out.  
  
 "Well, Eridan's right, we'll see you in the blue cabin right?" she asked with a smile.  
  
 "Yeah, thee you there," Sollux replied with his own smile.  The camera shut off and then the call disconnected before Feferi started typing something into the box.  
  
[cuttlefishCuller: ] <>  
  
 She logged off before Sollux could ask her what that meant.


	4. Four

 Sollux hated camp and he'd only been here for two hours - he'd had to carry all four of his bags by _himself_ up a mile long hill because his parents just _had_ to book him an early flight and trust him to do things by himself.  He loved his dad, and he loved Craig, and hell, he'd extend his hand to loving his friends as well, but right now?  
  
 Right now he hated everyone and _everything_.  
  
 The cabin he was 'lording over' was in the back row and equipped with a ramp on the right side, but when he finally got to the front porch the door burst open and there was an ear splitting scream of joy before all five foot and three inches of Feferi had tackled him into the dirt and threatened to knock him down the hill he'd just climbed.  Feferi was chanting her apologies and squealing about something way too fast while Sollux heaved and tried to get the air to come back into his lungs.  Before he could really tell her to get off, someone had picked her up one handed by the back of her shirt and was holding her about a foot off the ground like a kitten being held by its scruff.  
  
 "Zahhak, put my sister down."  
  
 Eridan's voice was heading towards him and he couldn't really see anything until he pushed his shades over his eyes and looked through the sun’s glare.  Sollux was going to have a migraine in a few minutes, but the sight of Feferi blinking at the ground below her like it had personally betrayed her was worth it. "You never know where she's been."  
  
 "Eridan!" Feferi's voice was huffy but not scolding.  
  
 "I apologize on behalf of my new friend, it seems giving her a toffee candy wasn't in the right frame of things to do," Equius had a hand extended in Sollux's direction and he took it without thought.  It was a lot smaller than his own but rough and callused.  Equius was still tall and built like a brick strong house though.  Still... something about him was just... different.  
  
 "You gave her a sugar rush," Eridan muttered when Feferi was finally set down on her own two feet.  Eridan was brushing her off with both his hands, still not looking at anyone but her until he was certain she was clean.  
  
 Eridan was tall, maybe even a little bit taller than he was, but Sollux doubted that with the way Eridan held himself.  He had on this ridiculously shimmer covered and yet still see through button down with a black and white pinstripe vest over it, along with a matching scarf.  His hair was full of more gel than the bottle he probably bought to style it with, and there was the purple strip of hair he'd seen last night, flipped up and sprayed with what Sollux hoped was just glitter hairspray.  His pants were tighter than sin and his ass was just... well, Feferi's wasn't the only one with a bubble butt in the family it seemed.  His rings were still in place and it looked like there was a scar trying to peek out from beneath the scarf on the back of his neck that reminded Sollux of surgery procedures he'd seen Craig watch for work.  
  
 At least now Sollux knew why Karkat called this dude a douche bag.  He got to his feet and brushed himself off, watching as Equius picked up all of his bags like it was nothing and carried them toward the left side of the cabin.  
  
 "N.P. jutht thy or thomething?" he asked as he looked around for Equius' girlfriend, he expected to see her peeking through the screen door on the cabin porch.  
  
 "Nep?  She hasn't even gotten here yet," Eridan said offhandedly. "Shame, I can actually stand her."  
  
 "The... _She_ didn't come with E.Q.?" Sollux asked as he fought with his lisp.  
  
 "Obviously not," Eridan said, his voice haughty. "She lives like... five hours away from him anyway." Eridan shrugged and set the final piece of Feferi's clothes back in place before he smiled at her. "There we are, all dolled up again and not a hair out of place, you're adorable," he tapped her on the nose and then sauntered off toward the cabin.  Sollux had no idea why he'd watched him go as intently as he had... maybe because dat ass.  No, no that was not a thing he just thought you all saw _nothing_.  
  
 "He's in such a good mood today," Feferi said with a happy sigh.  
  
 "Theemed kind of agitated to me," Sollux muttered back.  Feferi laughed and grabbed his hand, dragging him toward the cabin next to the blue one.  
  
 "Come on, Kanaya's already here!  We need to go say hello while we wait for Tavros' call, his parents have to sign a bunch of forms," she beamed and tugged him along with strength he didn't expect from her.  Once inside Kanaya wrapped them both into her arms and nearly broke Sollux's ribs with her hug.  
  
 "Before I left my mother bought me the new novel!" Kanaya said excitedly before she ran to her carry-on bag and yanked the book out.  Sollux was a little lost but Feferi filled him in while he watched his normally overly protective and well groomed friend squeal like her father had gifted her with the pony and the princess gown on her trip to Disney Land.  
  
 "Rose Lalonde's new book!  I thought that didn't come out for another three days!" Feferi squealed in delight and began jumping up and down as Kanaya just bounced on her heels.  The two girls crowded around the book like it was a gift from god and Sollux cringed, wondering why he always had to be dragged into situations he didn't know how to handle.  He backed out of the cabin and hurried off the porch with a sigh after several minutes of shrill squealing and bright sunlight from the windows.  He needed to down an entire gallon of water and some strong as fuck pain killers if he was going to get through the rest of the day at this rate.  This place was too bright and there were far too many noises, his head was throbbing already and he saw no end in sight.  He rubbed at his temples on the way back to the other cabin, and as he looked up Eridan was just standing there in front of him with his arms crossed.  
  
 "You look like shit," Eridan commented as he held out a glass of water and a single pill. "Fef said you got headaches.  Well, so do I."  
  
 Sollux winced at the volume in his voice.  Eridan quickly hushed himself and gave a sympathetic smile. "Drink that, swallow that, sit in the rockin' chair," and before Sollux could even argue Eridan was lifting his hand with the water glass toward his face.  He recovered fast enough to not drown in the water and regained control of the glass before he downed the pill in question.  Eridan smiled at him and it was both... strangely attractive and strangely unnerving all at once.  
  
 Must have been all the teeth.  
  
 "Didn't expect you to trust me without any prior notice," Eridan said softly.  Sollux raised an eyebrow and handed the glass back.  
  
 "F.F. truthts you," he said simply. "I trutht her, tho I trutht you too," Sollux shrugged and tried to offer a smile as he headed toward the rocking chair.  Eridan's face was unreadable, but he didn’t stick around for very long.  He disappeared back into the cabin before Sollux could try and make conversation anyway.  He sighed and plopped into the chair, rubbing his temples under the shade of the porch roof and now extremely thankful of the screen that kept the bugs away as he kicked his feet against the floor, listening to the chair creak as it swayed slowly.  
  
 The cushion was a little lumpy under his butt and the back of the chair needed to be sanded down, but his head felt like it was going to burst through his eyeballs at any second so he wasn’t going to chance getting up.  He let his eyes drift shut and sighed when the pain slowly went from a sharp spike to a very low throb.  Finally it was just like the reminder that he'd stubbed his toe earlier, only it was in his skull instead of on his foot.  With another sigh he opened his eyes, the world rocking with the chair.  
  
 That was different.  
  
 "Sollux?" Feferi stepped onto the porch and smiled at him, big and bright and flushed.  
  
 "Hey... effy," Sollux smacked his lips and looked to the side, wondering why his tongue felt so huge in his mouth all of a sudden.  Her smile quickly turned into a frown and she hurried over, hands on his face before she stomped her foot and screamed.  
  
 "Eridan Ampora, what did you do!" her voice boomed against his skin, the volume like a speaker next his ear.  He winced and let his head fall into one of his hands as Eridan came out of the cabin with a raised eyebrow.  
  
 "You bellowed?" Eridan asked with a smirk as he dried his hands on a towel.  
  
 "What did you do?" Feferi pointed a finger at Sollux in a rage, her other hand jutting out on her hip.  
  
 "Nothin'," Eridan snapped, color rising in his cheeks, "you said he got headaches so I gave him one of my pain killers," Feferi's upset color drained.  
  
 "Eridan you take horse tranquilizers because your immune system is stronger than Equius'!" she nearly screamed.  
  
 "I cut it in thirds, relax woman," Eridan smiled and walked over to Sollux, holding up his middle finger. "Aigh' sweet cheeks, how many am I holdin' up?" he asked.  
  
 "Fuck you too," Sollux slurred.  
  
 "See, he's grand," Eridan beamed like he'd won an award. "And his headache is gone as long as you stop your shoutin', I know how much that shit hurts Fef.  Specially when you shriek, sounds like a buggerin' jet plane," Eridan tapped the side of his skull and leaned over to wrap his sister in a hug. "He'll be fine, just needs to gather himself and he'll be able to talk through it," Feferi's glare melted slightly, but her anger remained.  
  
 "We needed him to help us get Tavros!" she hissed.  Eridan raised two well manicured eyebrows and looked over as Equius walked onto the porch and stretched.  
  
 "Did we really need the twig man when we've got the he-hulk over there?" Eridan smirked and flounced, _actually_ flounced down the steps.  Feferi groaned and wrapped both her arms under Sollux's, tugging him until he caught on and got to his feet. "Hurry up you two!" Eridan shouted as he started to make his way down the hill.  Feferi moved her arms around Sollux's chest as she led him toward the steps.  He was swaying slightly and he knew it, but for some reason he didn't actually care.  
  
 "I am so so so sorry he did that Sollux," Feferi whispered. "Oh man, Karkat's going to get so mad, but he can't start any fights!  Eridan is having a good day and he's just-" Sollux cut her off with a hand on her shoulder as they finally got down the steps.  
  
 "F.F.," his head was still spinning but at least it wasn't throbbing anymore. "Don't be upthet at your brother, he didn't mean anything bad... he'th thtill a dick for not telling me these were like G.Z.'s pillth, but... he wath jutht trying to help," Sollux offered a smile and took a few steps forward without her help. "I'll deal with K.K.  You jutht keep your brother calm," he offered her another smile and she relaxed before catching up to him.  
  
 "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked with a critical eye on his every step. "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to, but I'm afraid to let you out of my sight," she muttered.  Sollux nodded and put a hand on her back before pushing her forward.  
  
 "I'm fine," he reassured her.  For some reason, even he believed it.


	5. Five

 Tavros was this tiny little guy crammed into an even tinier wheelchair with legs that werea lot longer than they should have been compared to the rest of him.  He looked very out of proportioned, squished in his chair and waving goodbye to his parents who were... wearing moccasins and sitting on the back of a pick-up truck full of straw as they left.  
  
 Alrighty then.  
  
 He had a dark complexion and a Mohawk with a very thin braid hanging off his neck that had beads and feathers interlaced in it.  He also had a tattoo on his right arm, peeking out from underneath the flannel, which Sollux didn't expect at all.  It was a dream catcher with words on a floating ribbon around it, but Sollux's head was far too fuzzy to read it right at that moment.  With a little help from Equius, Tavros got to his feet with a set of strange crutches and hobbled himself up the hill faster than any of them while Equius carried the wheelchair on one shoulder.  
  
 The dude had to be on steroids.  
  
 When they all get back to the cabin, Equius helped Tavros situate himself and Sollux noticed something that made him do a double take when Eridan plopped beside them on the bed and held out two bottle of V8.  Maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe it was the pills messing with his eyes, but for Equius and Tavros... their Adams apples should have more prominent with how they were stretched out on the beds, necks thrown back.  
  
 Eridan flashed him a look and he got the hint that he was staring when he really shouldn't be.  Besides behing the obvious creeper thing to do, what was so bad about simply noticing his friends didn't have Adam’s apples?  Sollux turned around when Kanaya walked out of her cabin and she was on him in a second, checking his face the same way Feferi had done and then sighing before smacking him upside the head.  
  
 "Skinny white boy, have you learned nothing from your time shackled to my person?" she scolded him before pulling him to her chest for a hug. "What am I saying, you're Sollux Captor, of course you've learned nothing.  If you crawled out of your basement for more than five minutes maybe I could try to teach you, but alas.  Poor Captor, I knew thee well," Kanaya let him go and made a grand sashay over toward Feferi, hand extended for the other girl to take.  
  
 "I thtill hate you tho much," Sollux grumbled when he was able to right himself.  He turned to tell her off, but something caught his eyes and he did a full body jerk as he watched two golf carts drive up the side of the hill.  Two golf carts that were carrying the rest of his friends. "Where did they get cartth!  They didn't have any when I wath walking up here!" Sollux whined.  
  
 "Nor when I was making my own way, but pardon me." Equius was on his feet and making his way toward the carts as they stopped in an instant.  He was sprinting across the short distance, reaching into one of the carts to drag out a green coat and the girl swallowed inside it.  He twirled her around in the air as she clung to his shoulders and let out a bright laugh that Sollux could almost feel. "Nepeta, how I've missed you, it's been ages."  
  
 "Oh Equius, it's only been three weeks since I was in your town," Nepeta chided before she kissed his cheek.  
  
 There was a scoff from the cart behind them as it pulled up and parked, jerking its passengers and their luggage. "Gross," a girl in a jean jacket and far too much messy black hair said as she got out and sneered.  Terezi was right behind her with a heavy sigh, rubbing at her blinded eyes while she restrained herself from smacking the other girl with her cane.  Sollux decided that must have been Vriska, if he could see Terezi get angry and watch the veins pop in her hands even when he was high off his ass, it could only be his friend’s evil step-sister.  Vriska turned to Sollux and her sneer got even darker, then he notice the picture of Nic Cage on her shirt.  
  
 Oh god, she was such a tool.  No wonder Terezi hated her.  
  
 "Who are _these_ losers?" Vriska asked with a scoff.  Terezi let out a strangled cry and smacked her sister hard across the back of the thigh with her cane as she got out of the cart.  
  
 "Your future if you don't want me to kick your blueberry bubblegum ass back home!  I only invited you because-"  
  
 "Vris!" Eridan was on his feet and running forward, wrapping his arms around the girls waist and... well, macking on her.  Huh.  
  
 Sollux had him pegged as gayer than his parents when 'bring your mother to school day' came around.  
  
 "Your not-boyfriend was going to come, hello to you too, Eridan," Terezi tapped away from them and laughed the closer she got to the cabin. "Tavros, get off your ass and come hug this blind bitch already, I've missed my peanutbutter cup!" she shouted.  Sollux smiled and got to his feet to help get his friends bags, but before he could really go anywhere, Karkat was on him and - whoa back up!  
  
 Karkat just kissed him.  
  
 Karkat just kissed him and squeezed his ass.  
  
  _Well_ then.  
  
 That was nowhere near as terrible as he thought it would have been.  Actually - Karkat was a pretty good kisser.  
  
 "Hello to you too?" Sollux asked when his friend pulled away.  Karkat laughed as he took several steps back and looked over at Nepeta when she finally set her feet on the ground after Equius was done hugging her. "What wath that for, exactly?" he wondered.  
  
 "Oh, that was for Nepeta," Karkat smiled fondly over at her and then nodded toward the suitcases Gamzee was carrying one by one to the cabin. "I have owed her some homoerotic material for... two months?" He turned to Gamzee and smiled at the nod. "It's a thing, whatever, I'll explain later, help me rally all my bitches," Karkat pushed by Sollux and started shouting at everyone, no regard for Sollux's safety or vertical stance.  
  
 "What..." Gamzee was there to catch him before he toppled over, hugging him from behind like a giant security blanket that drank too much Faygo and spent a lot of money on face paint.  
  
 "Motherfucker was gettin' all sorts of twitchy on that plane ride over, you know?  Gave him a small bit of one of my tranqs and he chilled right the fuck out - used to take a smaller dose than me when he was all cancered up for his fits." Gamzee smiled down at him like he'd just done the world a favor.  Sollux nearly had to crane his neck to see him.  
  
 How he just kept getting taller was beyond anyone.  
  
 "Yeah, E.D. thort of did the thame thing to me," Sollux muttered.  After a pause Gamzee was in front of him, fingers moving slowly in front of his eyes. "G.Z., what are you doing?" Gamzee's face turned from normal happy high, to a slight frown.  
  
 "You got a slight overdose my double colored motherfucker, you'll be bitchtits but you ain't goin' to sleep on any of us any time soon," Sollux couldn't really understand anything that Gamzee was saying at this point, but his tone was nice if not a bit worried. "You want a Faygo, I bet my brother wants a Faygo, lemme go fucking _get_ you one, aight?  Stand your skinny ass tight right here, hold this," Gamzee said as he dug into one of his pockets and pulled out a mass of multicolored metal rings all connected on a brass circlet. "Make 'em dance, brother," he dropped it onto Sollux's outstretched palm and disappeared off to the side.  
  
 Sollux looked down and rolled the rings around in his palm, watching the light trickle off them and change their color as they moved.  He flicked at a few with his thumb and smiled, it was far too amusing.  People were start to shout all around him though, and it was starting to catch his attention. He looked up from the rings to see Eridan sneering at Vriska while he crossed his arms.  
  
 "Vriska, I swear!" Terezi pointed her cane right at her step-sister and her face was set in a hard mask. "Shut the holy fuck up, you're being a bitch." Terezi lowered her cane at her sister's scoff and leaned against it as Tavros hid behind her.  
  
 "Oh like you _never_ are," Vriska shouted before pointing her thumb over at Equius and Nepeta. "I just asked the lesbos to stop mackin' in front of me, no big deal!" Sollux felt his eyebrow raise.  
  
 "We are _not_ lesbians, Vriska. Equius is a guy, for the last time." Nepeta's voice was cool, filled with the air of someone who had explained this a thousand times over.  
  
 "The cock that ain't between his legs says otherwise kitty cat, same for Tiffany tiny tits over there," Vriska waved a hand at Tavros and for a second it looks like Terezi was about to step forward and beat the shit out of her.  Nepeta beat her to it though.  
  
 She threw of her coat off, ignoring Equius' call of her name with a snarl on her face. "That is _It, Serket_!" Nepeta shouted, rolling up her sleeves.  
  
 "Bring it on, ya' weeabo!" Vriska shouted in return as she took a stance.  She looked back to flash Eridan a smirk, but when she turned around Nepeta had already drawn her fist back and slammed it into her nose.  Vriska let out a roar of a scream and cupped her hands around her nose as it bleed like a faucet.  Eridan was laughing hysterically now and Feferi looked like she might have an aneurism made of pure _worry_.  Nepeta managed to get a fistful of Vriska's hair next and yanked the taller girl to her knees, the toe of her boot pressing right behind Vriska's kneecap as she yanked her face up so they were looking at each other eye to eye.  
  
 "Listen to me and listen to me _loud_ and _clear_." Nepeta's voice was practically a growl as Equius hurried over and tried to pry her off. "If my boyfriend says he's a boy, he's a _boy_.  If my best friend says he's a boy, guess what, he's a boy," Nepeta yanked hard at Vriska's hair and earned a shout as she pushed Equius off. "So what have we learned?" Vriska sneered up before screaming as Nepeta yanked some of her hair out.  
  
 "Nepeta, stop this violence at once!  I do not want to have to hurt you if I use force to remove you from Vriska's person!" Equius shouted.  
  
 "Tell me what you've learned first!" Nepeta screamed just as Kanaya ran outside.  
  
 "I learned... that people are who they want to be, not what's between their legs," Vriska spat out.  Kanaya reached her just as Nepeta threw her down and she quickly cradled her in her arms and pulled out a black handkerchief, wiping up the blood across Vriska's face. "Some boyfriend you turned out to be!" Vriska snarled as Eridan wiped the tears away from his eyes.  Sollux swallowed when the other teen shrugged and felt his head spin.  
  
 "Not like you were actually interested in me for anything other than snoggin', Vris, no harm no foul," he shrugged and made his way toward the cabin, Feferi's hand in his.  On his way he stopped and flashed a smile at Tavros, then gave Terezi a salute. "She's all yours Ter, see to it that scalleywag of a wench is taught right manners this time around." Eridan chuckled when Feferi swatted his arm.  
  
 "Rude!" Vriska shouted back as she let Kanaya mother over her.  A few feet away Nepeta and Equius were having a heated argument low and out of earshot from Sollux, but it looked as if Nepeta was crying, or just about to.  That wouldn't do, you don't make girls cry.  Sollux took a step forward and then felt a hand on his shoulder, Gamzee coming into view as he turned him around and placed a bottle in his hand instead of the rings.  
  
 "Drink it up brother, you need the sugar," Gamzee said, voice soothing as he led Sollux toward the red cabin.  Sollux went with him, fiddling with the cap a few times before the seal snapped and the carbonation hissed the drink into life, drops of sticky corn syrup and flavoring flicking on his fingers.  He switched the can to his other hand and drew the fingers to his mouth, the taste bright and tangy all at once.  Gamzee helped him up the steps one by one and held the screen open, smiling at him as they went through the patio and into the room Kanaya and Terezi were going to share.  
  
 It had only been about half an hour since he'd been in here last and already there were fabrics draped from the ceiling to the floor, battery candles flickering in little lanterns and pillows strewn across the floor.  The fluorescent lights had been covered with low hanging cloth, bathing the room in muted shades of green and blue.  Along the wall the window had been draped with green, the spare bed stripped and the mattress laid in the floor.  Karkat was there, cuddled against a pillow, as were Eridan and Feferi.  
  
 Gamzee eased Sollux down between Karkat and Eridan, lifting the soda in his hand to remind him to drink it. "Little chica, I need to be having a talk with you, mind if I take her off your waiting hand my many ringed man?" Gamzee gave a low bow and Eridan raised an eyebrow, lifting his hand with his palm down and fingers extended.  
  
 "You may, this pleases me, have her back before the pumpkin bursts."  
  
 Gamzee bent himself again and kissed the tips of Eridan's fingers before he helped Feferi to her feet and walked her to the other side of the room.  
  
 "I'm confuthed," Sollux mumbled before he took a big gulp of his soda.  Eridan turned and gave him an indulgent smile.  
  
 "Gam and I, we go back," he explained. "Before his daddy started up and hoppin' jobs at least," Karkat gave a warning grumble from Sollux's side, "he used to drop him off with us to play.  We went to countless places, the houses were rarely ever the same," Eridan paused and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eventually that stopped being a thing though and we settled in with my pa' here, while mum's off doin'... whatever it is she does after her divorce.  Women are weird," Eridan said, shrugging and looking Sollux over, a slight sneer in his tone. "And you?"  
  
 "What do you mean?" Sollux asked, passing the drink to Karkat just so he wouldn't have to hold it anymore.  
  
 "I told you about me, now it's your turn.  Spill a little information from your childhood here, Sol, share with the class," Eridan snapped.  Sollux swallowed and thought, rubbing his temples as he leaned back and looked at the room through his duel colored sunglasses.  
  
 "My mother used to put me in a room with other children, told me to play with them but never play nithe.  She did thomething really bad when I was little, but I don't know if I ever knew what it wath.  My dad left her though, and then I never thaw her again.  It wath like the never exthited, no pictureth, no thmellth, jutht... thith blurry memory of thomeone with dark hair picking me up and holding me when I would get a headache," Sollux let his hand drift to his temples, rubbing in small circles. "I with I could remember what color her eyeth were at the very leatht... don't think I'll ever forgive her for never contacting me now that I'm a teenager."  
  
 Eridan leaned over and hooked one of his fingers under Sollux's glasses, tugging them off gently and placing them beside the mattress.  He placed a palm against Sollux's cheek, eyes flicking back and forth between Sollux's before settling on the left.  He wasn't smiling as he looked Sollux over, his gaze was impassive, bored.  Karkat sat up with the soda and hummed as he leaned closer, a grin splitting across his face.  
  
 "If you're going to kiss him, Eridan, let me know," Karkat said with a slur.  Eridan's face turned into a scowl as he pushed Sollux back and let him bump into Karkat, soda slopping over the other teen’s arm.  Sollux laughed when Karkat started cursing, but then the drink was plucked from Karkat's hand by Terezi as she sat in front of them.  
  
 "What's my name?" she asked.  
  
 "Terezi," Karkat replied before leaning closer to her. "Why?  Did you forget?" he paused and then reached for her. "Did I forget?" Terezi sighed and took off her shades before dragging Karkat across the mattress so his head was resting in her lap.  
  
 "You're high, you're never any fun when you're high," Terezi grumbled as Karkat wrapped his arms around her waist.  She smiled, though it was terribly sad, and started running her fingers through his hair. "Do me a favor and do that less, will you?" ask asked, voice the softest Sollux had ever heard.  
  
 "For you, beautiful?  Anything," Karkat murmured into her belly before looking up and smiling lazily at her. "You _are_ right, I am high.  Sollux is high, Gamzee... more than likely high, we should all just get high and do the introduction thing later.  I love you, you're beautiful." Terezi's look of pure horror was quickly covered by one of sheer bliss.  
  
 "Or, my little stickler for rules, we could do this the way we planned to, with or without our ferocious leader." Terezi looked up and smiled with eyes that were unfocused and coppering. "Besides, I want to meet more of this wonderful Nepeta once again.  The internet doesn't do her nearly enough justice." She grinned and went to stand, only to have Karkat drag her back down.  
  
 "No that's not fair," he grumbled.  Terezi raised an eyebrow at him as he looked up at her, knuckles brushing over her cheek. "You can't go after someone when I'm already trying to get your attention." Terezi's face enflamed and she pushed Karkat onto Sollux and Eridan without another word. "She wants me," he mumbled happily.  
  
 "Yeth, the wantth you like thick people want thyphilith at the moment," Sollux mumbled as he was pressed against Eridan's side. "Bethideth, weren't you with thome dude latht time we talked?" he asked.  Eridan scoffed and Sollux looked over at him, inhaling at the deep blush on his cheeks.  
  
 "It's called bisexuality, Sol, even a moron like you should know that," he turned to look away and Sollux caught his hand as Karkat pulled himself into a sitting position.  
  
 "Never had the chanthe to find out," Sollux said as he ran his fingers over a few of Eridan's rings.  
  
 Eridan raised one of his eyebrows. "Is that an offer?" Before Sollux could reply a loud voice broke through his fog.  A loud voice belonging to Feferi.  
  
 "Everyone!" she smiled as she stood on a chair. "Sit your butts within hearing distance, we obviously need to set ground rules for this sleep away camp... I mean besides the rules we'll hear tomorrow from the councilors of course, we need friendship rules!" She clapped her hands twice and then waited for everyone to get settled. "Alright, rule one, no more fighting."  
  
 "She started it," Vriska grumbled now that Kanaya had set and bandaged her nose, a bag of ice pressed to her face.  
  
 "I'll finish it too," Nepeta grumbled back.  
  
 "Shut up, my chica is talking," Gamzee said in warning.  
  
 "Anyway!" Feferi continued. "No taunting each other into trying to start fights, no bickering about body types or sexuality, no more tranquilizers unless you are Gamzee or Eridan," she glared over at Eridan and then went on, "No drugs in general unless they are prescribed, no underage shenanigans for the love of glub, I do not want this to be the only time my dad ever lets me out of his sight.  No bringing up the past, no dwelling on it," she looked right at Sollux and her smile cracked for a split second before she went back to her rant. "This is a vacation for us, it's about living for this moment, with each other.  You guys are my closest friends, even if I don't know some of you very well, but I'm hoping this trip changes things." Feferi stepped off of the chair with Gamzee's help and then plopped onto a pillow beside him. "Let the introductions begin, if you have the cuttle plush, you talk," she held up a little cuttlefish stuffed animal and threw it at Terezi. "Go!"  
  
 "Whoa, bitch." Terezi caught it without a blink. "Way to throw shit at the blind girl."  
  
 "Terezi, come on," Feferi pleaded.  
  
 "Yeah yeah.  Hello all, my name's Terezi, I was born and practically raised in Tennessee.  I love the color red, and anything done by Striders.  Also my step-sister is Vriska, she's a huge bitch." Terezi threw the cuttlefish at Vriska and she snatched it out of the air with a stuffed up snarl.  
  
 "Vriska, born in Brooklyn, want to go back.  Step-sister's Terezi, who's a blind idiot who can't even see the color red anymore," Vriska growled.  Kanaya sighed and plucked the toy from her hands.  
  
 "Hello, my name's Kanaya, I'm originally from Louisiana and I enjoy listening to my friends bicker, apparently," Kanaya said before handing the doll back to Feferi.  
  
 "Oh boy, well my name's Feferi, that's my brother Eridan... ummm, oh, I love the color pink!  And cuttlefish, they're precious!" she giggled and handed the doll over to Gamzee.  
  
 "Gamzee, Capricorn, my best brother's Karkat.  Love that motherfucker," Gamzee smiled and tossed the toy to Karkat.  
  
 "Karkat fucking Vantas, you're all cunts and I love you, next," Karkat said with a laugh as he tossed the toy to Tavros who had to pick it up after missing as it slid across the floor.  
  
 "Umm... I'm, uh... I'm Tavros, Native American, not Spanish, please don't speak to me in Spanish, I don't actually speak it... I'm kind of boring..." He quickly handed the toy to Nepeta who was curled up against Equius' side.  
  
 "I'm Nepeta, I have eight cats and this is my boyfriend, Equius." She beamed up at him and he smiled back as he took the toy.  
  
 "Hello everyone, my name is Equius Zahhak, I am F.T.M.  A female to male transsexual, and while I am not ashamed of it, I am sometimes hurt by repeated mistakes upon my personal identity." Equius looked over at Vriska and then back to Nepeta. "I'm lucky enough to have, quite possibly, the most beloved person at my side though, and I will never stop loving her." Karkat sighed happily and took the toy to shove it at Sollux.  He stared down at the plush little tentacles and shrugged.  
  
 "Thollux, I have a lithp in cathe you were deaf and didn't already catch that, I have two dadth... Ummm, I'm high off my ath right now, thank you, Eridan." He passed the toy over and was rewarded with a smirk.  
  
 "Good, you all saved the best for last," he said with a wave of the toy. "My name's Eridan fucking Ampora, I'm fabulous, you all suck, my sister is Feferi so if you hurt her I will kill you... and I'm single, apparently?" He looked over at Vriska and she gave him a small broken smile.  
  
 "It was fun while it lasted, fish lips, but I just have more fun pissing you off than being your girlfriend," Vriska said through the ice on her nose. "Besides, you're kind of a dick... and I don't think I really like boys..."  
  
 Eridan smirked at that and tossed the toy back to Feferi. "Don't I know it."  
  
 The rest of the night was spent in a blur of motion and colors, people moving about the room and the warm feel of Eridan's hand occasional rubbing up and down his back whenever Sollux felt like he was about to nod off.  Gamzee was hovering over him every few minutes with Feferi, the two of them checking the clock and then checking Sollux's eyes like he was a crazy person.  He couldn't seem to find his glasses anymore, but then again if it wasn't within arms reach of him he couldn't find anything.  
  
 He watched everyone else, though, as they moved around the room and waved their arms about with each different conversation.  Eridan kept coming back to sit with him after mingling for a little while, always touching him somewhere as if to keep him grounded in reality.  Sollux couldn't thank him enough, but then again, with the way his head was spinning he couldn't really thank him at all.  
  
 Karkat had gotten up and migrated between Gamzee and Terezi, always close to one of them but never far from the other, and Sollux realized he was kind of jealous.  His jealousy got even worse when he saw Nepeta and Equius whispering to one another, Equius wrapped around Nepeta as they shared one drink and cuddled close.  It hit him then how much he missed Aradia, how even though he hadn't heard from her in years and how he hadn't thought of her in months, he still wanted to wrap his arms around her and make fossil jokes...  
  
 Eridan had pulled him to his chest and started hushing him, but Sollux had no idea why until he tried to pull back and realized he was crying when his tears rolled down his cheeks and onto his arms.  He hadn't cried like this in years – he had promised he'd never do it again and here he was breaking down and mumbling things he couldn't even understand.  Kanaya tried to pull him away from Eridan at one point and he threw a full out tantrum, so Eridan swooped back in and pulled him into a hug while Vriska led Kanaya outside.  The two of them were getting funny looks but Sollux didn't want to be let go right of now, he felt like he would fall through the Earth if someone let him go.  
  
 Eridan lead them out of the cabin and down the steps a while later, having shifted Sollux to his side as he hushed him and dried his tears with his scarf.  They walked across a bit of grass and rocks and then they were going into the other cabin, one without any lights on and a room that was lot easier on Sollux's headache.  
  
 "I've got it from here, Kar, you go back to that fancy party a yours and let me handle Mr. Emotionally damaged by an eleven year old," Eridan said to someone behind him as he set Sollux down on one of the beds.  Karkat made this face that on anyone else would have been a glower and smacked him upside the head, talking too low and too quick for Sollux to understand.  Eridan shoved a pillow under his arms and backed away, out of sight for a few minutes before the screen smacked shut, then the front door.  
  
 Eridan came back a few minutes later when Sollux started whimpering when he couldn't sit up, a wet cloth in hand as he sat near the pillows and pulled Sollux down so his head was resting in his lap. "Alright lover boy, tell me the story of this Aradia."


	6. Six

 Sollux woke up to a warm bed and a splitting headache, the sound of running water echoing in another room off to his right as he tried not to moan.  The noise of someone getting out of bed across the room made his eyes snap open, and for a moment he wondered why it was so dark in his room.  He turned his head toward the window and noticed the thick blackout curtains hanging over the entire wall.  He remembered where he was when he saw the hand-sewn monogram on the bottom of the curtains.  This wasn't his basement, this was sleep away camp, and _this_ was the cabin he had been sharing with Feferi and Eridan.    
  
 As he sat up he caught sight of Feferi fumbling around in a duffle bag, wearing a kigurumi of all things with the hood down.  It looked custom made and obviously something with Kanaya's stitch work all over it.  When he tried to open his mouth to ask about it, he realized his throat was as dry as dirt and he ended up having a coughing fit that made him curl up on his side in the bed.  Feferi snapped to attention and was at his side in a matter of seconds, rubbing Sollux's back with a soothing whisper.  
  
 "Eridan, we need a glass of water!" she called as her head turned to the bathroom doorway.  
  
 "Woman, you have two feet!  I'm not your butler!" Eridan snapped back.  Feferi sighed and stomped toward the bathroom, leaving Sollux alone to rub at his throat and try to untangle himself from the bed sheets.  After a moment of tugging and grunting he stood on shaking legs, still in everything except his shoes, belt, and glasses.  Feferi hurried in with the glass of water and forced him to sit back down on the edge of the mattress, one hand between his shoulder blades while he drank half the glass in quick succession upon her order.  
  
 "Good morning to you too," she said with a happy murmur. "Did you sleep well?  I can't believe Eridan was stupid enough to give you his medication, or stupid enough to think there wouldn't be any consequences," she hissed.  
  
 "Eridan is also within earshot, you twat!" Eridan shouted in return as he stuck his head through the bathroom doorway. "Look, he's alright.  Little groggy lookin' but at least he's not dead." Floppy curls wound around Eridan's face and water dripped down his neck when he made eye contact.  Sollux blinked a few more times and looked around the room for his sunglasses to distract himself.  He handed the water glass back to Feferiand smiled, trying to get his chest to stop feeling the bone deep chill of ice cold water entering his system and the strange heart flutter to go away.  
  
 "I'm fine," Sollux said before he caught sight of his glasses on the nightstand across the room. "Jutht groggy," he muttered as he stood up.  His body felt weak and limp and Feferi was standing by his side, ready to push him back onto his bed. "I need to walk, F.F., if I don't do it now I'll never get it right." He offered her a smile and she grudgingly helped him over to the nightstand. When he got there it was quick and easy to flick the sunglasses open and stare down at them, wondering if he'd even get to wear them today.  Things like outdoor activity for more than an hour always required his aviators instead of his favorite novelties after all.  
  
 "Are you alright?" Feferi asked him as she raised a hand to touch his shoulder.  He took a step away and smiled, taking the glasses over to his own nightstand and setting them there with ease.  
  
 "Fine, where are my thuitcatheth?" he asked.  
  
 "Your what?  What the hell was that, that sounded like a garbled mass of spit!" Eridan cackled in the bathroom and Feferi looked mortified.  
  
 "Suit.  Cathes.  _Cases_." Sollux frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thorry, don't really have a lot of practithe out of my lithp," he added, trying to smile to reassure Feferi, but she was still scowling at the bathroom.  
  
 "You should get that looked at, you sound thupid," Eridan mocked as he walked out of the bathroom and over to one of his own suitcases.  
  
 "Not as stupid as your w-weird bloody stutter!" Feferi nearly shouted. "Stop makin' fun a my friends, it's all you ever do these days, yesterday you were doin' so great!" Feferi's face was turning a bright shade of pink and an accent seemed to slip in with her rage.  Eridan just kept ignoring her.  He stood up straight after pulling out a hair dryer and clucked his tongue when she made a frustrated huff at him. He didn't have his glasses on but his gaze was focused only on Feferi.  
  
 "Fef, darling, you know I love you," he started, "and you're the best sister a guy could ask for.  You're beautiful, smart, you charm all of your little friends with sweets and fuckin' giggles," he tugged the cord away from the dryer until it snapped and glared at her suddenly. "But if you keep talkin' about me and my personal life in front of a stranger, I ain't gone be too happy." He spun on his heel and slammed the bathroom door shut behind him.  Sollux winced on Feferi's behalf and reached out to pet her shoulder as she sniffled.  
  
 "Maybe he'th jutht cranky?" Sollux offered. "Thlept on the wrong thide of the bed?" Feferi smiled at that, though it was very faint.  
  
 "Yeah... he's such a codfish in the morning," She shook her head and made her way to a big pink duffle bag. "I'm going to go change in another cabin, he'll be in there for a while so if you need to use the restroom, try next door," Feferi said.  She offered Sollux another smile and began to dig through her bag for clothes.  
  
 Today was going to be one of those days it seemed.  
  
\--  
  
 Finally dressed and half awake, Sollux mourned the fact he couldn't get a shower since Eridan had locked himself in the bathroom.  He knocked on the door the fourth time. "E.D.!" he shouted over the sound of the hair dryer.  Sollux groaned and let his head thump against the wall. "E.D. for the latht time, I have to fucking pith!  Either let me uthe the bathroom or give me my-" Sollux nearly fell forward as the door snapped open and Eridan smiled up at him as he waved Sollux's toiletry bag in front of his face.  
  
 "Here you go, still not done yet," Eridan said in a chipper sing song.  He dropped the bag in Sollux's outstretched hand and then leaned out, pressing a kiss to Sollux's cheek before slamming the door shut as the hair dryer turned back on.  Sollux blinked in confusion for a few seconds before he gave up trying to figure out Eridan's motives.  He ran out of the cabin with his bag and looked at the two cabins after he'd jumped off the porch.  Kanaya and Terezi's cabin was out because that was just weird, and he didn't really know his neighbors... so Karkat's cabin it was.  
  
 He ran across the grass and thanked his heavy aviators for being so dark because it was bright outside and he didn't need that after yesterday.  Gamzee was on the porch when he got there, sitting happy and half asleep in the rocking chair. "Hey G.Z., bathroom free?" Sollux asked as he tugged the screen door open.  
  
 "Chica's got it on lockdown my brother, says she needs to look mighty spiffy now she's single," Gamzee pushed the chair back and stared up at the rafters. "Funny thing that chica, was all front and brave faced last night, second her old boy walked out she got to crying on the seamstress like a kid again, they were all over each other like moths to each others fuckin' flames.  Had to up and let the jade mamacita scoop her up and have a nice long feelings jam in the bathroom, ain't come out since." Sollux groaned and nearly bashed his head against the doorframe. "You can go next door to the chica's, that's where Karbro is, or over with my new Tavbro," Gamzee grinned and tapped the side of his head. "Boy's a sweet thing, actually listened to me when I was going on about nothing, rapped with me too."  
  
 Sollux eyed his friend and heaved a sigh. "Right, I jutht need to pith," he grumbled as he made his way down the porch steps and back over to his shared cabin.  He took the steps two at a time and felt terrible for banging on the door as hard as he did, but he was about to tell everyone to fuck themselves if he didn't get to use a bathroom soon and just go in the woods.  
  
 The door opened after a pause and the small chick who beat Vriska all to hell opened the door in camouflage parachute pants and a tank top that said 'Hit It'.  Her hair was pushed up in a clip and she looked far too bright eyed for early morning. She stepped aside without asking. "Bathroom is open," she said with a smile.  
  
 "Oh thank fuck," Sollux ran passed her and bolted into the bathroom.  
  
 "Language!" Equius shouted outside the door.  
  
 --  
  
 After Sollux had used the bathroom and brushed his teeth he walked out and nearly bumped into Tavros' wheelchair... which he wasn't actually in. "Sorry, umm... I can't remember your name, sorry, I was just... in a hurry to..." Tavros sighed and covered his face with his hands as he laid back on the bed and groaned into his palms in embarrassment.  Equius had one of his feet in hand, rolling his eyes before he tapped Tavros' leg.  
  
 "Your physical therapy won't be finished without any effort put into it, Nitram.  Now, as you were," Equius said, voice softer and relaxed.  
  
 "Yeah, Tavros, you're so close to not even _needing_ that silly chair anymore!" Nepeta was sitting on the bed pressed right next to the one Tavros was laying on, a bottle of nail polish in one hand and foot in the other.  It looked like she'd already done her fingernails. "I believe in you," she added, offering a smile and receiving one in return.  Sollux shifted on his feet and walked around the wheelchair, feeling awkward as Equius pushed against Tavros' leg and urged him to apply pressure.  
  
 "Right, thorry about that.  E.D.'s got the bathroom and I jutht really needed to go..." Sollux muttered.  Nepeta looked up to offer him a shrug and rolled her shoulders before she went back to painting her toenails.  
  
 "Don't worry, Gamzee needed to use the bathroom too, he was the one who helped Tavros out of his wheelchair this morning when he needed to shower," she pulled the brush away from her pinkie toe and then closed the nail polish. "Are you going to join us for breakfast?" she asked as she set the bottle down on her nightstand.  
  
 "Umm..." Sollux looked around and shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not really a breakfatht perthon," he admitted.  
  
 "You don't have to, uh... oww," Tavros winced and Equius let his leg go, watching it flop to the bed, "go to breakfast, I mean."  
  
 "Either way," Equius pulled Tavros into a sitting position and walked toward the wheelchair, "we will be heading out soon, so if you wish to join us we will be going as a group.  Maryam and Pyrope requested to join us, as will Makara and his angry brother," Nepeta smiled again as she stood on her heels, toes in the air.  
  
 She squeaked when Equius reached out and ruffled her hair as he passed, knocking her clip loose as her hair fell in spiraling waves.  She shot him a glare as he smirked as he went to unlock the wheelchair. "Butt," she mumbled as she started pulling her hair back into the clip. "Whatever you want to do, but you might want to go put your toothbrush up first," she pointed at the bag in Sollux's hand and turned to Tavros. "Do you need me to help you with your sandals?" Sollux decided now was the best moment to flee, so he did.  
  
 The screen door slammed and rattled behind him as he hurried down the steps, listening to the thrum of a lawn mower and golf cart going around the cabin's to wake up the other teenagers up.  Sollux went back into his cabin and found Eridan walking out of the bathroom with his hair in a fine slick and his hands working on buttoning a vest over a white collared shirt.  Sollux frowned when Eridan scoffed at him and slipped into the bathroom, dropping his toiletry bag on the sink.  
  
 He stepped out and watched Eridan putter around the room for a while, picking out a checkered bowtie to go with the scarf he'd tied around his waist.  He was nitpicking at his cuffs when he finally turned and looked at Sollux, giving him a once over before sighing and making his way toward him.  Sollux took a step back and then raised his hands up, Eridan's hands yanking at the bottom of his shirt.  
  
 "Whoa what the fuck!" Sollux shrieked when Eridan did it again.  
  
 "Oh chill out you twit, your shirt is half in your pants and half out.  I'm not going to be seen with someone who can't even dress themselves," Eridan said as he reached behind Sollux to tug the rest of his shirt out of his jeans. "Now do you want it tucked in, or out?" he asked impatiently.  
  
 Sollux raised an eyebrow and let his hands fall to his sides, feeling uncomfortable with Eridan so close. "I... don't care?" he muttered.  
  
 "Right, in it is then," Eridan said before he started shoving the hem of Sollux's shirt into his jeans.  Sollux let out a noise that was similar to a squawk when Eridan turned him around.  
  
 "Dude, I can do it mythelf!" Sollux said, voice rising.  Eridan scoffed and stuffed the bottom of Sollux's shirt in before he could try and swat him away, then he turned on his heel.  
  
 "Too late, I'm done," Eridan said with a wave of his hand. "Try and dress yourself next time, alright?" He tossed a nasty smirk over his shoulder and picked up a water bottle from a cooler beside his bed. "Where's my sister, by the by?" Eridan asked.  
  
 "F.F.?" Sollux shrugged and started tugging at his shirt until he was comfortable. "Thaid the wath going to go get drethed over in K.N. and T.Z.'th cabin," Sollux watched as Eridan heaved a sigh and sat on his bed, leaving the water bottle untouched on the dresser.  He dragged a bag over and started digging through it, muttering something under his breath until he pulled out a card and held it out between two fingers.  
  
 "Take it," he snapped when Sollux blinked at him. "Are you deaf?"  
  
 "Are you crazy?" Sollux asked. "Firtht you're thith nice guy with no ithue with me, now you're jutht a giant cock," Sollux said as he stomped forward and snatched the card in midair when Eridan flicked it toward him. "What'th with you anyway?" he asked before glancing at the card.  
  
 Speech Therapy.  
  
 "I'm bi-polar, what's your excuse," Eridan said with a shrug. "Doctors lowered my dose last week and it's not workin', also I didn't sleep well because we gave you the biggest bed," Eridan stood up and waved his water bottle in the air. "I'm hungry, are you hungry Sol?  Let's go get food, you have to accompany me since my sister has up and left me." Eridan unscrewed the top of the bottle downed half of it in several gulps before setting it back on the nightstand.  
  
 Sollux stared at Eridan before he flicked the card over to his bed. "I'm not hungry," he informed the other teen.  Eridan scoffed at him and walked forward, grabbed Sollux's arm and giving it a tug.  
  
 "Don't care, walk with me, it's better than staying cooped up in a cabin until some drill sergeant comes stompin' in and drags you off by the back of your messy as fuck hair," Eridan grumbled as he started walking.  Sollux just went with him, groaning as he rubbed his temples beneath his shades.  Today hadn't even started yet and he was already getting a headache; if it turned into one like yesterday he might not be able to stay here much longer.  
  
 When they got outside, Eridan eased his hold on Sollux's arm and hooked their elbows together, slowing to a pace Sollux could agree with.  They were quiet most of the way down the hill toward the dining hall, and Sollux was surprised he didn't see anyone walking or sitting on their porches.  Maybe they were late to breakfast and could just go back to the cabin and sleep.  
  
 "I'm sorry," Eridan said suddenly, his voice making Sollux jerk in shock. "For yesterday and the pill, Fef rode my ass up and down the world last night and I really didn't think it would fuck you up that bad." Eridan tugged at one of his sleeve cuffs and kept his eyes forward.  
  
 "It'th okay," Sollux replied.  He didn't know what else to say after all, and conversation wasn't really something he wanted to take part in right now.  All he wanted to do was go back to sleep, but Eridan had a firm grasp on his arm and was walking him around like he was some glorified prom date.  Shit, he hoped Vriska didn't see this and kill him, from the way Gamzee was talking earlier she had Eridan's head aimed for her spike.  
  
 Then again, with Eridan's poor judgment and equally poor attitude, he wasn't actually surprised.  What on this Earthly fuck made Feferi smile at him the way she did?  
  
 Eridan stopped them just as the dining hall made itself know by the group of teenagers standing outside chattering loudly about fuck knows what with bottles of water and bagels.  With a heavy sigh, Eridan unhooked his arm from Sollux's and nodded toward the building. "Well, we're already here, do you want you go in or do you want to stand around like a bloody toss pot all day?" He smirked and Sollux shoved him.  
  
 "Thtart marching," Sollux grumbled as Eridan laughed and started walking.  They stayed close even though they were no longer touching and entered the dining hall together after getting a lot of strange looks from the teens on the porch.  Eridan seemed unfazed, but Sollux walked away with a chill down the back of his neck when he heard someone mutter 'Queers.'  
  
 "I'm starvin'," Eridan announced. "Sol, get us some plates, will you love?" Sollux raised his eyebrows well over his sunglasses and scoffed. "Well, I'm not touchin' them, they're probably covered in germs," Eridan made a disgusted face as someone passed him with a tray full of food.  
  
 "Alright, one, I'm not your love.  Two, I'm not even hungry, if you want food tho bad, get it yourthelf," Sollux said as he avoided an over excited girl with a tray that was a bit too full for his comfort.  He turned toward a table and felt a hand in his, his head snapping back as Eridan got closer to him and leaned against his shoulder.  
  
 "Oh come on Sol, Fef normally goes with me but she's not here, don't leave me all by my lonesome," Eridan pouted and Sollux couldn't help but groan. "At least walk with me, I don't like the way these tossers are eyein' me," Eridan fluttered his eyelashes and Sollux pushed him off as he made his way toward the food line.  
  
 "Your fake acthent ith thlipping pretty hard right now," Sollux said over his shoulder. "Why do you do that?  F.F. doethn't have an acthent," Sollux snatched one of the trays off the line and glared daggers at the girl who cut in front of him.  Right, he still had his sunglasses on, she couldn't see the full force of his loathing.  
  
 "Well excuthe me, Princess," Eridan mocked. "But my accent is one hundred percent real, thank you _very_ much.  My father was born and raised in Scotland and came here to marry my mum, she's British American or somethin' like that," Eridan smirked as a girl standing behind them bit her lip and tried to keep from staring anymore than she already was.  It wasn't working.  Sollux groaned and pushed the tray down the line and grabbed at the whole milk.  Eridan cringed and got non-fat.  
  
 "Doethn't explain why F.F. hath no acthent," Sollux reminded him as he grabbed napkins.  
  
 "She does though, it only comes out when she's upset, like my stutter," Sollux smirked and watched as Eridan picked up a mixed fruit cup.  
  
 "I'd love to hear that thome time," he teased.  
  
 "Oh I'm thure you would," Eridan said with an answering smirk.  
  
 "Fuck off," Sollux said as he fought a smile.  It wasn't every day he got to hear someone else lisp, faking one or not.  Eridan wasn't trying to upset him either... or he was and he was going about it all wrong.  
  
 "Maybe later," Eridan mumbled, winking at the girl behind him as he reached over for a pudding cup. "But Fef took up mum's accent, though she got picked on about it when she was little for soundin' _posh_ , so she learned to cover it up." Eridan stopped when they got to the eggs and pancakes and shot Sollux a pleading look. "Would you, I... really don't want to touch those ladles."  
  
 Sollux groaned and snatched the spoon up and dumped a messy heap of eggs onto the offered plate in front of him, grinning as Eridan nearly shrieked in disgust.  
  
 "Have you no shame, good sir?" Eridan hissed as Sollux flopped a few pancakes ontop of the eggs.  
  
 "Not a damn bit," Sollux muttered. "Grab your thyurup and tell me what elthe you want, I want to get out of thith line," he pushed the tray down again and Eridan made a face at the mess of his plate before scooping up two little dessert cakes. "No bacon?" Sollux teased.  
  
 "I'm on a vegetarian diet," Eridan said, nose upturned as he scanned the room for a table. "Oh look, I see Kar, let's go sit with him." Eridan grabbed Sollux's arm and started tugging again, nearly overturning the tray.  Sollux now saw why Karkat called Eridan a douche bag every chance he got.  
  
 Before they even got to the table Sollux could hear the booming glory that was Karkat's ranting shriek as he leaned against Terezi's side.  She had one hand combing through his hair while the other speared bits of pancake into her mouth with a little sword toothpick, a lazy grin on her face with her glasses sitting beside her as the guy sitting a table away stared on in horror at her unblinking face.  Kanaya sat across from Karkat, listening with full intent and focus honed in on him as she stirred a cup of what Sollux guessed was coffee.  
  
 Where did she find coffee?  
  
 Lucky hooker.  
  
 "So if she's going to be a bitch and lock herself in a bathroom when there are _two_ other dudes who just want to _piss_ in the morning, she can fucking bunk with you.  I'm way more than happy to trade the blind bitch for the blubbering one," Karkat said. "And I'm not sorry, Terezi," he grumbled as Sollux sat the tray down at the round table and Terezi cackled.  
  
 "You wouldn't be my snookums if you were sorry, my sweet Karkles," Sollux rolled his eyes at them and picked up his milk, shoving the rest of the tray at Eridan.  
  
 "I will never underthand why you two flirt with each other but refuthe to date," Sollux said as Karkat nodded at him. "Where's G.Z.?" he asked.  
  
 "Gamzee is off with her royal highness and company doing fuck knows what while he awaits his private time to take the knowledge Feferi touched him and polish one off in the shower," Karkat grumbled while Terezi dragged her nails down his scalp. "Fuck that feels nice Terezi."  
  
 "Watch your mouth about my sister, cousin fucker," Eridan grumbled.  
  
 "Only I haven't fucked him yet, now have I?" Karkat snapped back. "Douche bag."  
  
 "The reason Karkles and I are not in flagrant," Terezi interrupted.  
  
 "Excellent choice of words, my dearest," Kanaya added.  
  
 "Is because he's going through every boy he can get his hands on until he tires himself out and comes flocking back to me when he's ready to settle," Terezi smirked and flicked a bit of egg across the table.  The boy across the room jerked and knocked over his milk.  
  
 "So it's because Kar's gayer than knickers on a drag queen?" Eridan asked in between bites of fruit.  
  
 "No you grape fruit fungus, I'm not gay," Karkat snapped. "I'm pansexual, if I can love it I will, why the fuck do you think I love Terezi?" Sollux raised an eyebrow as the girl in question cackled.  
  
 "If you love her, why aren't you with her?" he asked.  
  
 "Put it simply, dears," Kanaya said before sipping her coffee. "It's complicated, the two have a relationship so open it's not technically a relationship.  They're together, but not, not officially," she smiled and set her cup down, fingers laced together and tucked under her chin. "Moving beyond the subject of our cohorts love lives, I do believe I'd like to return to our previous shanty of words?  Are you truly interested in switching the bed mates so Vriska stays with me and Terezi tuckers in with you and Gamzee?" she asked with a slight sparkle in her eyes.  Karkat nodded and opened his mouth when Terezi offered him a piece of pancake. "And you do not mind, Terezi?"  
  
 "Me, mind if I crashed with Karkles?  Nah, he's a teddy bear," Terezi said with a content smile as Karkat turned and kissed the inside of her wrist. "'Sides, Vriska needs to talk to you more than she needs to lock herself in the bathroom.  You two are more girlfriends than best friends, you always have been," Terezi snapped.  Kanaya refrained from comment, but her cheeks did flame up under the dark hue of her complexion.  
  
 "Why'd Vris lock herself in the loo?" Eridan asked before taking a bite of his eggs.  Sollux turned toward him, chin on his hand as he eyed him up and down.  
  
 "You jutht broke up with her," Sollux supplied.  
  
 "And?  I ain't heart broken over it, we'd only been datin' for what?" Eridan looked over at Terezi as she held up two fingers. "Two weeks, how in the bloody tossed salad of a fuck am I supposed to care about her enough to lock myself in a bathroom after only two weeks?" Sollux was about to comment about this morning, but Feferi picked that moment to hug her brother from behind with delighted laughter as she covered his eyes.  
  
 "Guess who guess who!" she chanted eagerly.  
  
 "Oh, well, obviously the heiress to something grand, and someone pretty... who also didn't moisturize her hands this mornin'.  Fef what have I told you about moisturizin'," Eridan dragged her hands down so her arms where resting on his shoulders as she giggled and gave his cheek an air kiss.  
  
 "Hey F.F.," Sollux said when Feferi switched from hugging her brother to hugging him when she finally noticed him. "What'th up?" Sollux asked as she turned and draped herself back over Eridan's back so hard he gave a grunt of distress.  Sollux reached out to pull her back, but stopped when two tan hands scooped Feferi off of Eridan princess style.  
  
 "There you are, my beautiful fucking star flower all bloomin' and glowin' in the room where the munchies were hidin', Tavbro was gettin' worried you'd up and gotten lost," Gamzee's voice is as deep and sated as always. "I missed you this mornin'," he said softly before leaning over to rub his nose against Feferi's.  She blushed a bright pink and hugged his neck, rubbing her nose back with a giggle before he set her on her feet.  
  
 "I'm sorry Gamzee, I got caught up talking to Nepeta about groups for the tour," she smiled when he hugged her and started petting her hair. "She said after breakfast the camp directors were going to summon everyone to the front gate and we'd get together in groups of six and walk the camp, I called Eridan and Sollux already!" she beamed and then looked up. "Gamzee, do you want to join my team, Karkat and Terezi can come too!"  
  
 Gamzee's smile was nearly from ear to ear. "Whatever will make you happy, mamacita, it'll be like old times, only now we got both you and your best bro to join us," Gamzee said, eyes only for Feferi.  Kanaya gave a weak smile when Sollux opened his mouth to protest and cut him off with a wave of her finger.  
  
 _'Let him have this.'_  
  
 Kanaya mouthed it over the top of her coffee cup and Sollux shut his mouth, looking back at the smile on Gamzee's face.  He knew that his friend was in love with Feferi... but he'd never seen it this close and this clear.  Normally Gamzee was foggier than this, but right now he was bright eyed and letting out a honking laugh as Feferi made a fishy face behind Eridan's back when he commented on how he disliked the eggs on his plate.  Her brother eventually snapped around, done with his food, and before Sollux knew what he was doing he had a hold on Eridan's wrist under the table.  
  
 But Eridan just made Cthulu kisses at his sister until she peeled into little bursts of laughter and took Gamzee's hand, tugging him toward the door and pointing happily as she started rambling on about something.  He had her every attention, and the worst part was, Sollux was pretty sure Feferi was oblivious to it.  After a moment there was a slight tug to his hand and he looked back over to see Eridan blushing at Sollux's grip on his wrist.  
  
 "You can let go..." Eridan nearly whispered.  Karkat sat up a bit further and coughed, pushing his plate away from him.  
  
 "Well, I'm done," Karkat said gruffly as he stood from the chair. "If we're going to be walking all fucking day, I'm going to go change shoes.  Terezi, you coming?  I can get your stuff in our room and you can bitch at your sister," Terezi chuckled and pushed her own tray away as well, picking up her glasses and sliding them on with ease before she snatched up her walking stick.  
  
 "Karkat, I would be delighted if you walked with me.  Vriska's probably already out though - she can be emotional but she's probably busy berating a drill sergeant into giving her his paycheck," Terezi beamed when Karkat snorted and stood, hand reaching out until she found his arm. "Do you have to change shirts?  This one is comfortable…" They started walking away and their conversation was swallowed in the crowd.  
  
 "I better go with them," Kanaya said, setting her empty cup on Karkat's tray and picking both of them up as she stood. "On the off chance that Vriska isn't out of the bathroom, I'll be needed to lure her with sweet talking." Eridan shrugged and picked at the little dessert cup on his plate.  
  
 "I could have sworn Vris hated sweets," he muttered.  
  
 "I must be the exception," Kanaya said with a smirk. "I'll take my leave, see you later Prince Smart Mouth, Skinny White Boy." She turned on her heel and sauntered off with both trays.  Eridan opened his mouth to snipe back, making the funniest 'gafua' noise Sollux had ever heard.  
  
 "Chill, man, when K.N. pickth at you like that, it meanth the liketh you, trutht me." Sollux drained half of his milk carton in one go. "The may be a bitch, but the meanth well," Sollux added as he stood up and yawned, looking over Eridan's pout. "Oh for fuckth thake, what now?" Eridan sighed and scooted the second dessert cup over to where Sollux had been sitting.  
  
 "At least eat that for me.  If you go on some long, doubtlessly boring hike, you'll get hungry.  If you've got a little bit of food in your system you won't complain like Fef does," Eridan shrugged and finished off the last of his milk. "I will sit right here and _stare_ at you until you're done," he proceeded to do so.  Sollux wanted to pull his hair out.  He snatched up the nearest fork, stabbed into the dessert and took a bite, after that he washed it down with the rest of his milk and left it on the table before storming out.  
  
 Fuck Eridan, he really didn't need this right now.  He was going back to bed.


	7. Seven

 "Get out of bed." Karkat's voice was right next to his ear and Sollux grumbled at him in response.  He buried his face deeper into his pillow when Karkat tried again. "Bitch do not make me crawl in there with you.  Get out of bed, we're going hiking," Karkat said as he shoved Sollux by his shoulders.  
  
 "Go away, K.K.," Sollux moaned.  
  
 "You fucking asked for this, let me tell you in advance," Karkat said, and then the room went silent.  Sollux was drifting off once again when he felt someone shift underneath the covers and cuddle up next to him, wrapping one arm around his waist while the other sought out his hand and tugged it toward his face. "Wow, he really is out of it," Karkat grumbled, but his voice wasn't beside his face like the person kissing his cheek was.  
  
 "Aww, Sol, you're really not going to react?" Eridan purred against his skin.  
  
 "Oh my fuck," said Sollux as he snatched his hand back and fought through the covers to shove Eridan off of him as people started laughing in the room.  
  
 "Come _on_ Sollux, the councilor is waiting for us outside," Feferi said as she tugged the covers off the bed and reached for Eridan's outstretched hand.  
  
 "K.K.," Sollux moaned as his friend bent down and dragged him into a sitting position by grabbing him under his armpits. "K.K. I am going to reek havoc upon your computer and thtrangle you with your charger cord," Sollux grumbled as his friend plucked his aviators off the desk and put them on his face with a lot of awkward cheek bumping.  
  
 "Yes, and I give less of a shit than Gamzee does, and he's never given an iota of one because he's Gamzee.  Get up, put shoes on, walk, all simple commands." Karkat grinned and looked back at the small group behind him. "I'll even give you an incentive; if you make it to the door before I do, and you're dressed and ready, I won't tell Terezi your computer's password." Sollux snapped awake and shoved Karkat as hard as he could while Terezi cackled at him.  He snatched his shoes off the bed and tugged them on, cursing the entire time as Gamzee led Feferi from the room.  Probably thought she didn't need to hear such obscenities.  
  
 Then again, with the way he talked already...  
  
 "Don't have an aneurism, Mr. Apple Berry Blast, I'd never let Karkles just _give_ me the information like that," Terezi said, facing the wrong way. "I'm close enough to cracking the code all on my own." She smirked and turned toward the door, Karkat at her side.  They walked out, arm in arm and smiling at one another like there was no one else in the world.  
  
 Eridan sighed heavily and walked forward with a water bottle already opened and outstretched toward him. "You know you mutter in your sleep?" Eridan asked. "Well, more like whimper; do you have sleep issues?" Eridan sat next to him when Sollux took the bottle and tipped it back against his mouth.  The water was freezing and it woke him up even further, his insides trying to shrivel away from the cold but relishing the taste.  When he pulled the bottle away Eridan had a cap held out on his palm, a small smile on his face.  
  
 "I don't think it'th any of your buithneth."  
  
 Eridan raised an amused eyebrow at the last word and Sollux scowled. "Bizzneth, fuck off you know I have a lithp!" Eridan's smirk vanished and he offered a genuinely apologetic smile.  
  
 "I actually think it's kind of cute," Eridan said with a shrug.  Sollux blinked at him and he screwed the cap onto the bottle.  
  
 "You're lying, no one I know thinkth it'th cute anymore," Sollux said as he tipped the bottle back toward Eridan.  Eridan shook his head and pushed the bottle back at Sollux, smiling as he reached up to fix his hair before he stood.  
  
 "Don't ever put words in my mouth, understand me?" Eridan asked.  When Sollux raised his eyebrows Eridan smiled and stretched. "Good, we have an understanin', now we better get goin' before Gamzee has to carry you out a here.  Fef's got a bug in her system about this hike, otherwise we'd both be sleepin'.  I swear the girl makes puppy eyes at _one_ juggalo and suddenly the world is hers, don't even know she's doin' it." Eridan sighed and stretched again as he waited for Sollux to tie his shoes.  
  
 "Wait, you know about G.Z.'th thing for F.F.?" Sollux asked.  
  
 Eridan nodded and held out his arm, which Sollux ignored, and they started walking toward the door after he stood up. "I've never seen such a sad puppy love in my entire life, you'd think Kar would put a stop to it.  Fef ain't got the right kind of love for him, she'll break him apart," Eridan said as he reached for the door.  Sollux stopped him by grabbing his wrist, head tilted in question.  
  
 "How do you know the doethn't like him back?  The'th alwayth cuddling up to him, the mutht like him, right?" Sollux asked.  Eridan turned and relaxed, moving Sollux's hand away before he took hold of the doorknob.  
  
 "She's my sister, I just know." He opened the door and sauntered out. "Fef!  Get off a that cart this instant, you're goin' to break your neck, I swear!" Sollux followed after him, catching a glimpse of the scar on the back of Eridan's neck before it disappeared again into his collar.  What was a surgery scar doing on the back of his neck?  This was going to puzzle him to no end.  
  
 "Then hurry up!" Feferi squealed. "Mr. Noir said if we can all cram on the cart we don't have to go on a hike, he said he'd drive us!" she said as Gamzee put an arm to her back to keep her from swinging off the side of the golf cart.  
  
 "He's just as lazy a fucking decaf cunt biscuit as we are," Karkat called from the front seat, perched in Terezi's lap.  Mr. Noir was eyeing him with the same look that everyone gave Karkat, sheer what the fuckery of the highest kind.  For something so small to have a mouth so outrageous, the look was justified.  Eridan shrugged and plopped down on the back seat while Feferi and Gamzee crammed onto the back ledge.  Sollux groaned and squished in beside Eridan, sighing when the other boy threw his head back and touched the back of his wrist to his forehead.  
  
 "Oh fret, my heart it aches at your lack of love, the enthusiasm you have for sittin' next to me crushes me my dove." Feferi started laughed as Noir grumbled and turned the golf cart on. "Whatever shall I do, now that my Sol has abandoned my hand."  
  
 Sollux groaned and buried his face in his knees.  
  
 "Motherfucker, I'll up and retake your hand, least until our honey friend here comes to his right senses," Gamzee said, one arm wrapped around Feferi to keep her from bouncing off of the cart as it jerked forward.  
  
 "Pleathe, jutht thtop," Sollux whimpered.  
  
 "I appreciate your advances, Gam, but my heart is still, I cannot love another whilst my Sol mate still breaths," Eridan said, letting his voice rise.  He smirked when Sollux glared at him.  
  
 "Eridan you're so funny," Feferi said, turning back to flash that _smile_ at her brother.  It took Sollux's breath away and made him turn around so he was looking at the back of Karkat's head.  God the girl was a walking heart ache waiting to happen, poor Gamzee.  
  
 "So, you little shits know where the mess hall is?" Noir asked, his voice smoke-thick and scratchy as it left his mouth.  
  
 "We all had breakfast, yeah," Terezi quipped as she tugged Karkat closer.  
  
 "Isn't Kar heavy?" Eridan asked as he leaned against the back of the seat, smirking when Terezi reached back and smacked where she thought his face was.  
  
 "Whatever," Noir muttered, "Mess is right there, building next to it is a computer lab." He fumbled in his coat and the cursed when he pulled out an empty packet of cigarettes. "Further down we got your main office."  
  
 Sollux tried not to groan as the tour continued - not like he even needed it, though, since he'd gone through the trouble of memorizing the ground maps just so he wouldn't have to _go_ on any tour.  Eridan seemed to agree with his boredom, but he at least had Feferi and Gamzee to keep him occupied.  Terezi and Karkat were busy talking to Noir about who-actually-cared-what, so Sollux leaned back and rubbed at his temples, trying to will away his newly forming headache.  
  
 It wasn't as serious as the one he had yesterday, or a few hours before his nap, just a low thrum from light exposure.  It was aggravating more than anything else, and when he opened his eyes again Eridan was giving him a concerned look.  He mouthed 'what' at him and got a small frown.  Eridan leaned closer, taking Sollux's hand away from his temples and bringing his voice to a soothing whisper.  
  
 "Are you alright?  You don't look so hot right now." Eridan didn't let go of Sollux's hand, in fact he cupped both of his own around it and pulled it toward his knee. "Is it a bad migraine?  Or just an annoyed one?" His voice was oddly soothing.  Sollux wasn't going to answer him at first, but then Eridan squeezed his hand and his heart jerked in his chest.  
  
 "Jutht a light enduthed thing," Sollux muttered as he leaned closer to Eridan. "I'll be fine, you don't have to act like you care," Sollux muttered.  Eridan squeezed his hand harder and then let his head fall to Sollux's shoulder.  
  
 "Remember that thing we talked about earlier, about you putting words in my mouth?" Eridan muttered before he closed his eyes. He was still holding Sollux's hand.  He felt the blush creep from his forehead down to his chest; this wasn't normal, this was... this made no sense.  _Eridan_ made no sense.  
  
 "Almost done," Noir grumbled in front of him. "Looks like your boyfriend's tired himself out finally." He turned before Sollux could correct him and Karkat had him engaged in conversation.  
  
 Eridan squeezed his hand again and Sollux looked at the trees as they drove by.  This was so fucked up.  
  
\--  
  
 After the tour, Noir stopped the golf cart by the lake and told everyone to get off - "Gotta make sure you kids know your way around, so you can walk back." - and drove off to a slew of curses.  Eridan groaned into his hands as Feferi ran toward the docks, laughing when Gamzee ran after her.  
  
 "Thurrounded by moronth?" Sollux teased as he started walking toward the docks.  
  
 "I hate ev-veryone, the whole w-world," Eridan grumbled.  He turned a shade paler at his stutter and glared at Sollux until his cheeks were flushed red. "Say anything and I'll-"  
  
 "Come on you idiots!  Feferi said they have fishing poles set up!" Terezi shouted, throwing a rock that whizzed right by Sollux's head.  The girl couldn't be as blind as she made herself out to be with reflexes and aim that good.  
  
 Sollux sighed and grabbed Eridan's arm when he showed no sign of budging.  He tugged until Eridan went with him, leaning into his side as they walked the small slope down to the dock.  The wood groaned under their feet as ahead of them Feferi squealed about ducks and clear water and turtles.  Eridan relaxed tremendously against Sollux's side when they took up one of the benches and let his head fall to Sollux's shoulder all over again.  Sollux smiled and let him, watching as Karkat sat on the edge of the dock with Terezi, pointing and babbling low enough that Sollux couldn't hear them.  
  
 Eridan sighed and reached for Sollux's hand. He tensed when Eridan laced their fingers together but didn't yank away like he wanted to.  He didn't know why either, though he knew this wasn't hurting anything... right?  
  
 "She hasn't laughed this much in a really long time," Eridan muttered as he waved at Feferi. She was throwing her arms up for his attention while Gamzee reached out for one of the ducks to inspect his hand. "She really needed this trip, and I know she didn't want me to come." Eridan sighed and squeezed Sollux's hand. "Hell, I didn't really want to come, I wanted her to just go and have fun, relax for once instead of take care of me.  But Papa just took this big contract and didn't think we'd want to go to Russia just for his business…" Eridan rambled on a bit more and then laughed. "Sorry, I hate silence."  
  
 "Funny, I love it," Sollux muttered as he gave Eridan's hand an experimental squeeze.  Eridan smiled and pointed toward his sister.  
  
 "She doesn't like Gam because she doesn't like anyone," Eridan said suddenly. "Not romantically, she never has.  There was a girl she thought she liked, she dated her, it lasted four days before Fef just gave up, she hates datin'." Sollux raised an eyebrow and pulled his sunglasses off, glad the sun was on his back.  
  
 "The thtill liketh romanthe though, the'th all about it." Sollux nodded toward her and squinted out over the water.  The glare was really starting to hurt and it had only been a few seconds.  
  
 "She likes romance, sure, but not romance in datin'," Eridan explained. "She might love havin' friends, and bein' touchy feely with them, but boyfriends and girlfriends ain'y really her thing." Eridan yawned and wrapped an arm around his side. "Is it gettin' cold out here?" he asked.  
  
 "It'th alwayth cold near the water," Sollux said. "You're thure about F.F. though?" Sollux asked.  Eridan nodded and turned his head, looking up at Sollux from his resting spot on his shoulder.  
  
 "Don't tell me you like her too," Eridan groaned. "That would be just what we needed." Sollux laughed and shook his head no.  
  
 "No, I... I don't think I want to like anyone anymore," Sollux said, suddenly feeling awkward.  Eridan was silent for a moment, then squeezed Sollux's hand again before turning to look out at the water.  
  
 "You already told me about Ara," Eridan said. "Wait, that sounds vague, Aradia... ugh I hate full names." He stuck his tongue out. "Whatever, you explained the whole spiel to me last night when you were out of it on the pain killers." Eridan hummed and stared out at the water. "I tried to get you to shut up a few times, but you just kept on and on, you had to get it out I guess," he added, shrugging and looked over as Sollux sat there, stiff.  
  
 "Can we jutht... not?" Sollux asked as he put his aviators back on and sighed. "The leth I think about A.A., the better," he grumbled.  Eridan sighed and stood up, tugging Sollux to his feet and walking him over toward Gamzee and Feferi as ducks crowded around Gamzee's legs in the water.  
  
 "Sol, you were a child, grow up and get over her already," Eridan scolded as he turned him toward his friends.  Feferi was leaning over the dock with her belly flat against the wood.  She put her hands in the water as a duckling swam closer to her and honked at her fingers.  
  
 Gamzee let out his own little honk and the duckling ruffled its feathers, scooting over toward Feferi and hiding behind her hand as she tried to hide her excitement.  Gamzee was smiling sweetly at her, but her attention was focused on the baby duckling that had waddled into her hands and was bumping its beak against her wrist.  
  
 Sollux stopped Eridan before they got to close, looking down and wondering why their fingers were still laced together. "Don't want to scare them off, right?" Eridan asked, catching Sollux's eye as he smiled at his sister and nodded. "Right, walk me back to the cabin?" Eridan asked as he turned Sollux away.  
  
 "Hold on." Sollux unlaced their fingers and offered a half smile. "Have to make thure thomebody knowth the way back bethideth me," Sollux said as he walked by Feferi and Gamzee and went to the end of the dock to prod Karkat in the back of the head. "K.K., E.D. wanth to go back to the cabin, do you remember the way back?" Sollux asked as Karkat turned at shot a glare at him.  
  
 "Eridan sure seems to be glued to _your_ hip," Terezi commented. "Oh!  Do you think he has the _hots_ for you?  That would be kinky," she crooned, and Karkat laughed.  
  
 "If only there was a person who actually found this twig attractive since he hit puberty," Karkat said.  
  
 "You think he's attractive," Terezi cut in. "In fact, you told me you'd sleep with him if he wanted a go," Terezi smirked and dodged the punch Karkat threw at her.  Sollux groaned and covered their mouths with his hands, then snatched his palm away from Terezi's face because she licked people and no, that was _not_ a thing he was going to have done to him when he was already having a bad day.  
  
 "Look, I know I'm a hot piethe of ath and I would hit that right back K.K., but I altho know I have a headache and jutht want to get out of the thun.  Do you know the way back?" Sollux asked much to Karkat's flushed embarrassment.  When his friend yanked his hand away and nodded he smiled. "Do you really want to bone me K.K.?"  
  
 "Just fucking leave already," Karkat snarled as he pushed him and buried his face in Terezi's shoulder. "I hate you so much, Pyrope, I could strangle you.  In fact, I will, in your sleep," Karkat grumbled while Sollux shook his head and got to his feet.  
  
 "If you get lotht athk G.Z. for directionth," Sollux said as he reached out and ruffled Terezi's hair. "You know he'th got that internal compath." He smiled and waved as Terezi laughed softly and kissed Karkat's forehead.  
  
 "We'll find our way back just fine, you go hang out with your wanna-be boyfriend, Mr. Captor.  Later on tonight if we can get a wi-fi connection I'll kick your ass at something all hardcore like," Terezi said sweetly.  
  
 "Fuck you too, T.Z.," Sollux said in his own singsong before he went back to Eridan's side and they started walking.  After a while Eridan reached for his hand and Sollux let him hold it, not before making a face of confusion as they walked up the incline toward the path. "Hey, E.D.?" he asked.  
  
 "Hmm? What?" Eridan asked back, seemingly distracted by the path they were taking.  
  
 "Why do you alwayth hold my hand like that?" Sollux asked.  Eridan nearly tripped over his own two feet before he stopped and looked down, raising an eyebrow at their joined fingers before he laughed.  
  
 "Oh, that," Eridan reached up and scratched the back of his neck and gave a laugh. "Me and Fef used to walk around holdin' hands and shit, people thought we were twins, which is really funny considerin' I'm the older one.  But it's also a comfort thing; after one of my episodes I always wake up to someone holding my hand, it calms me down," Eridan let Sollux's hand go and shrugged. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." He started climbing up the hill and sighed, running his fingers over his hair.  
  
 "You're older?" Sollux asked, avoid any other topics about feelings at all cost. "By how much?" Eridan shrugged and turned around to flash a smile at Sollux as they got on the path.  
  
 "I'm eighteen, she's fifteen," Eridan said.  He walked backwards for a few steps and then turned around, facing the path. "She gets upset when people find out - for some reason they start treating her different.  Don't let her know I told you, and don't treat her any way but the way you always do," Eridan said firmly.  Sollux smiled as he turned Eridan down another path and bumped into his side.  
  
 "Hey, I won't treat F.F. any different. The'th thtill my friend, don't make me out to be an athhole - that'th your job," Sollux said with a smirk.  
  
 It was the right thing to say apparently because Eridan threw his head back and laughed, shoving Sollux away as they ventured back onto the trail.  Sollux kept the directions simple and Eridan stopped them every once in a while to just look at the trees and breathe.  When they finally started walking again, they made their way back to the cabin in a comfortable silence.  So Eridan was an alright guy. He just had moments of douchebag painted all over his soul’s binary code.


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, my editors computer was being stupid.

 The rest of the day was spent cooped up in the cabin, Gamzee even going out of his way to bring the two teens trays of steaming hot lasagna and spaghetti mixes straight from the mess hall after supper.  They had been so busy talking about why Eridan liked hair products so much, which was actually a bunch of Eridan talking and Sollux playing video games on mute on his laptop, and the food was a welcome relief that neither of them realized they had actually wanted.  Feferi skipped out of the cabin, only staying long enough to grab a change of clothes, after she decided she wanted to go talk to Kanaya about 'girl feelings', which made Eridan roll his eyes.  Eridan had scoffed when she stuck her tongue out at him and shoved an unhealthy amount of spaghetti into his mouth; Sollux had to choke back laughter when he slurped the noodles off his fork.  The two stayed alone in their cabin talking about nonsense after that, like what favorite bands they had in common, which was a lot and surprised them both.  
  
 "You have _not_ seen them live, you utter shit stain, I will _strangle_ you!"  
  
 "Did too!  Look, I got pictureth on my laptop!"  
  
 "... Oh my god, you gash, you're touching his leg!  Give me your hand, I need to bask."  
  
 "Thith was yearth ago."  
  
 "Like I care."  
  
 Favorite colors.  
  
 "Obviously it's violet."  
  
 "... you mean purple."  
  
 "No, I mean violet."  
  
 "There'th no differenthe, E.D."  
  
 "Says the twat with two favorite colors."  
  
 The pros and cons of movies.  
  
 "I didn't like it, it was too focused on romance and not focused on savin' a culture."  
  
 "You have got to be fucking with me, E.D., the entire movie wath about thaving an alien planet!"  
  
 "Yeah, while we watched some dude get his rocks off in tentacle trees."  
  
 "It wath a good movie."  
  
 "It really wasn't."  
  
 When midnight rolled around and neither of them had seen Feferi, Eridan made the executive decision to drag his bed across the room so he was within arm’s reach of Sollux.  They flipped all the lights off and lay facing one another, talking about how much they loved shitty B rated nerd movies over the obviously sensitive subject of new aged movies until they fell asleep.  
  
 The rest of the week they spent locked in and out of one another’s company as Mr. Noir dragged the blue cabin around to 'Partake in the shitty excuse for _fun_ this camp has to offer.'  Equius took a disliking to Mr. Noir right away just from the way he eyed Nepeta up and down, and even Eridan had to admit it was pretty skeevy.  Tavros was too busy texting Gamzee whenever he thought he wouldn't get caught and relaxing in the back of the golf cart, crutches on the floorboard save for when he wanted to participate.  
  
 Equius was great with a bow, and Nepeta... well, the girl was great with everything physical except swimming.  Eridan made up for that by being a fish, as did Feferi, and Sollux just stood around by the cart with Tavros and the two of them were friendly and awkward with each other in a weird mutual bond of nerdum.  While the rest of the group did fun outdoorsy things, Tavros and Sollux hung around the golf cart playing with their phones.  Tavros jokingly asked him if he was trying to hack into some secret government organization and it had shocked Sollux into silence.  
  
 He'd just been playing minesweeper on his phone at the time, but apparently he'd been typing furiously and making the most serious of faces.  
  
  By the end of week one, Tavros and Sollux were bored out of their minds at not being the athletic or adventurous type.  Even when Sollux had been dragged into participating he'd quickly left after a few minutes of awkwardly standing around or attempting whatever it was before absconding.  Tavros just stared at everyone like they has four heads when they asked if he wanted to join in on the races, and they had both shared a laugh when Tavros had plopped onto the golf cart and swung his legs over the edge.  
  
 "Yeah, me, run a race." There wasn't a hint of disappointment in his voice, just laughter. "Maybe in a few years when I get full control of the muscles in my legs back, but until then I'll just sit this one out." He sighed and reached into Nepeta's backpack and pulled out a Ziplock bag of snacks. "Want any?" he asked as he held it out.  Sollux shook his head no and leaned over the back ledge of the cart, eyeing the tattoo on his friends arm.  
  
 "Hey, T.V., do you mind if I athk about your legth?" Sollux asked.  Tavros hummed as he opened the bag and smiled, though it was all face value and nothing more.  
  
 "I don't... mind, I mean…" Tavros buried his hand in the contents of the bag and started rooting through it.  He heaved a sigh and Sollux caught a glimpse of the nervous flinch as he reached over to run his hand over his tattoo. "I was... well, we, me and Vriska, we were in this go-cart, right?  We weren't supposed to be out, it had just rained and we weren't on an actual path, we were just on a hillside.  But, umm, I was driving and she was behind me, and I umm, I let her have the wheel and she turned too fast…" He flinched and looked away. "I knew we were uh, going to crash, the cart flipped over first and I heard her make this really terrible scream and... I pushed her out the side before the cart went over the cliff, she umm... she almost went with me, tore her arm out of her socket to get her out in time.  Ground broke under me and the cart and I was trapped in this hole when it finally stopped rolling down the side, pressed against some rocks and the cart in an underground river.  Almost lost my own arm to hypothermia because I was unconscious for most of it…" Sollux flinched and Tavros shrugged, biting hard at his lip as he pulled up his sleeve to show off his tattoo.  
  
 It was still the dream catcher and scroll Sollux had seen the first time they met, except now he could see the words and scar tissue hidden beneath the weave of the catcher and feathers.  
  
 'To die would be an awfully big adventure'  
  
 "Vriska lost her eye though, wears a glass one now, it's pretty cool.  And... I was in a coma after they got me airlifted out and cut me out of the cart.  Scariest moment of my life, doctors said I might never walk again, I was so depressed..." Tavros smiled then, bright and hilarious. "That's when I met Nepeta, though.  She had just gotten her appendix removed and was upset because nobody was letting Equius in to see her." He laughed and relaxed against the seat. "I have, _never_ , heard someone scream so loud while being so heavily sedated." He was still laughing as he stuffed his mouth full of trail mix.  After he'd chewed his food, he pointed out to the field and smiled as Equius carried Nepeta around on his back while she pointed forward and laughed. "She came into my room one night, asking if they could hide in there for a while, then just... stayed and talked to me for hours.  My parents love her.  Equius too." He stretched his legs out while Sollux smiled in return.  
  
 "They theem like great friendth to have," Sollux said after a pause, watching the two in question laugh and cuddle together. "They don't make you feel... awkward though, being the third wheel?" he asked.  
  
 "God no," Tavros laughed and zipped up the bag. "I've never felt more... myself, than when I'm with them." His smile turned bittersweet, though he tried to hide it by putting up the bag. "I mean, I love my mom, and my dad, but... they treat me... different sometimes.  Not all the time, and not on purpose, it just happens.  But... Nepeta just sees me as a _guy_ , and has _never_ called me Tiffany.  She just makes me feel like a gentleman... and Equius..." Tavros laughed and covered his face. "Equius lets me hate my body when I need to, otherwise he just reminds me I'm not alone... and that he's always there if I need to talk to him, you know?  He was the reason I pushed so hard to try and walk again, and here I am." Tavros smiled and dug his phone out of his pocket, face flushed as he checked for any new messages from Gamzee. "Sorry, started rambling…" Sollux reached out and gave Tavros' shoulder a squeeze.  
  
 "T.V., you can ramble all you want, man, you're a great friend and I don't mind lithtening to you talk.  I'm actually really honored you thared your thtory with me." Sollux grinned at Tavros' still-present flush of embarrassment. "In fact, I encourage thith talking thing, let me tell you a thtory, thince you told me one." Sollux reclined on the back of the golf cart and sighed. "It'th kind of long, tho I'm thorry if I thtart rambling mythelf." He turned back to grin at Tavros and then looked out at the field. "Tho, I wath in love with thith girl named Aradia when I wath little..."  
  
\--  
  
 When the second week rolled around, Tavros was Sollux's best friend, Karkat was openly in love with Terezi and thinking of giving up men altogether save for when Terezi desired it, and Eridan had talked to Sollux every night before they went to bed about their lives growing up.  Sollux had learned about Eridan's father being a great big name in business and how he was never really around, even though Eridan knew and swore how much his father wanted to be.  Eridan was told the tales of Sollux's childhood and held them to his chest, wrapped tight and not used as taunts like Sollux had expected to happen.  
  
 Midway through the week there had been a great big confrontation with Vriska and her now ex-boyfriend, which Gamzee had... somehow solved.  Sollux didn't actually know how that had happened because Eridan refused to talk about it, but Feferi had told him before permanently moving into Kanaya and Vriska's cabin and said she'd gotten the information from Nepeta.  Nepeta was nursing Equius' scraped knee after he fell off of a rock wall, and had gotten the information from Tavros as he was receiving a steroid injection in the infirmary.  Their entire group had turned into a game of fucked up telephone.  
  
 "It was a real big show, and Gamzee just went up to them both and made them hug.  Then Vriska started crying and Eridan took her outside and when they came back everything was hunky dory," Nepeta told Sollux as she covered the scrape in gauze when he went to ask about the whole ordeal. "Gamzee's got magic in him." Equius grunted and brushed off his shirt when Nepeta stood up.  
  
 "I think someone should engage Makara in an honest one-on-one about his feeling for Pexies," Equius stated as he got to his feet. "It surely cannot hurt if he confesses his feelings - she must love him back." Sollux bit back his groan and covered it with a shrug instead, turning to smile at Tavros when he wheeled up the ramp to the cabin.  
  
 Later that night, by the time that Eridan had returned to the cabin, Sollux had torrented several shitty movies and they'd crammed onto Eridan's bed, Sollux's laptop between them, and dubbed several of said shitty movies for hours. Eridan grabbed Sollux's arm and begged him to stop once they were practically cuddled together, laughing.  
  
 "No more, you try saying sassafras o-one more time I'm going to choke to death on my own tongue!" Eridan said, tears in his eyes as he leaned into Sollux's side.  
  
 "You like it when I lithp, admit it.  Almotht ath cute ath when you thtutter," Sollux teased.  Eridan groaned and leaned forward, burying his face in Sollux's shoulder. "Oh don't do that, I really do think it's cute when you thtutter." Sollux nudged Eridan's arm and felt him fall into the curve of his hip.  Eridan looked up and gave Sollux this small smile he'd seen so frequently over the last two weeks.  He leaned in after Sollux set the computer on the desk and they stared at one another, close enough to feel each other breathing.  But they jerked apart and looked up when the door slammed open and Karkat came in.  
  
 "Where's your sister?" Karkat shouted.  Eridan flushed and raised his eyebrows, letting go of Sollux's hand.  
  
 "I don't know, she's been bunkin' with Kan and Vris. Why?" Eridan stood up, seeming taller than he actually was. "You got something against her?  I swear I'll rip your bloody-"  
  
 "Gamzee's going to confess to her," Karkat said, face pale, and Sollux noticed that his hands were shaking.  
  
 "Why'th that a bad thing?" Sollux asked.  Karkat swallowed and tugged a bag out of his jacket pocket, a prescription pill bottle rattling inside it.  
  
 "He's been skipping his pills, and now I can't find him," Karkat said in a rasp.  Eridan was out of the door a few seconds later, Sollux chasing after him as he started screaming his sister’s name.  Sollux had to grab him and pull him close by the chest, gripping him until he stopped struggling.  
  
 "E.D., you need to stop!" Sollux took the time to rein in his lisp and squeezed Eridan tighter. "If G.Z. ith going to confeth, he'll want to do it somewhere romantic, you know him jutht like I do.  We all know him, and we know he loveth F.F., he'd never hurt her. Now where'th romantic?" Sollux asked, feeling the tension drain and coil in Eridan's skin on and off as he thought.  He took several gulps of air, then slumped against Sollux's chest, head turning as he scanned the grounds. "Where would you take me?"  
  
 And he had no idea why the fuck he said that, but it got Eridan's mind to snap onto a location.  
  
 "The docks, Fef loves the water…" Eridan said, tension back as he tugged Sollux with him by the hand. "I swear to god if he hurts her-"  
  
 "He'd never do that!" Karkat shouted as he ran after them.  A small group of people was following them by now, and Sollux didn't know or care if they were friends or just concerned about all the shouting.  All Sollux knew was that Eridan's fingers were gripped tight around his own and that there was no way either of them were letting go.  The trees and the path went by in a blur and they stumbled down the hill, looking toward the docks to see Feferi sitting on the edge, knees drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped around them as she hugged herself close.  
  
 "Feferi!" Eridan let go and bolted toward the docks.  Sollux felt his stomach drop.  When Feferi looked up though, the only thing wrong with her were the tears rolling down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her brother while Sollux ran to catch up.  
  
 "Where'th G.Z.?" he asked as he tried to gulp air into his lungs.  Feferi pulled back and whined.  
  
 "He ran into the woods. I didn't mean to hurt him, I-"  
  
 "W-what did he do to you?  I'll fuckin' kill that tosser w-with my bare god damn hands I-"  
  
 "Eridan!" Feferi cried. "Gamzee didn't do anythin' to me!  I did somethin' terrible to him!" Karkat was pale as he stepped onto the docks.  
  
 "What did you do?" he asked.  Sollux lunged forward and grabbed Karkat as he flung himself at her. "Where is he?  WHAT DID YOU _FUCKING_ DO?!" Karkat started screaming in Arabic and Sollux was having trouble holding him down.  Thankfully Terezi was there in an instant and pulling him to her chest, though HOW the fuck she got there Sollux wasn't going to ask.  
  
 "I broke his heart," Feferi wailed before she buried her face in Eridan's chest.  Eridan visibly relaxed and pulled his sister closer, hushing her cries as he ran a hand down her back and walked her toward the dock bench. "I hurt him and I didn't mean to but I don't love him!  I led him on, oh god I'm so horrible!" She sobbed harder and Eridan just shushed her some more.  Sollux moved forward, dropping to his knees in front of the both of them and taking Feferi's hand.  
  
 "F.F., hey, I need you to cheer up enough to tell me which way G.Z. went, okay?" Sollux lifted his thumb and brushed a tear away from her cheek. "Can you do that?" Eridan gave Sollux the warmest smile and something in his chest twisted. It was the same feeling that had been interrupted by Karkat all over again.  Feferi sniffled and shook, nodding her head yes as she pointed toward the woods that went back toward the cabins.  
  
 "He... he went that way, I didn't mean to-" Eridan hushed her before she could break into any more hysterics and nodded as Sollux stood up.  
  
 "I'll take care of her. I'll get her back to the cabin when she's calmed down some more," Eridan muttered. "Get Kar and your friends and go find Gam before he does something stupid." Sollux nodded and felt the strangest tug in his chest as he turned around.  He wanted to do something and it scared him. He wanted to hold Eridan's hand and wrap himself around both of his friends and... he wanted to kiss Eridan's forehead to wipe away any shred of terror and fear about his sister and make it go away.  He wanted to keep kissing him until Eridan kissed him back and they got lost in it.  Sollux let out a gasp and hurried over to Karkat and Terezi, shaking his head to make the thoughts go away.  They didn't belong in his head, not right now.  
  
 He didn't _know_ Eridan, not enough at least.  They talked and they ate together, but other than that he knew Tavros better than he knew Eridan... but still, he just _felt_ something.  He shook it off and pointed towards the woods.  
  
 "G.Z. went that way. We need to find him, _fatht_ ," Sollux said. Karkat turned in Terezi's arms and nodded.  
  
 "Take Terezi back to the others and tell them what's going on. I can't lose her in the woods as well," Karkat said as he pushed her toward Sollux.  
  
 " _Fuck_ you Vantas, I'm going with you!" Terezi shouted.  
  
 "Yes, let's have that, one fucking near psychopath who is probably in a rage fit he can't control or won't remember, and a blind bitch in the woods!  What could go wrong, they said. They're just silly teenagers, they said!  You fucking _saw The Village_!" Karkat screamed.  
  
 "No I didn't, I'm _blind_!"  
  
 "Well, I explained it to you, then!"  
  
 "Fuck you!"  
  
 "Thut up!" Sollux shouted between the two of them. "Jethuth fuck!  T.Z., thtay with F.F. and E.D. until they’re ready to go back. Protect them.  Me and K.K. will go looking for G.Z.. We can text anyone elthe if we need to get a thearch party going, alright?" Terezi stiffened but finally nodded.  Karkat groaned and ran into the woods, leaving Sollux to catch up with him.  Sollux paused before he ran into the trees to fire off a text message to someone, letting them know that he was close to Gamzee.  
  
 'gz ha2 gone mii22iing, we need two fiind hiim, he confe22ed two ff and iit went really bad.'  
  
\--  
  
 'i KNOW,,, i ENCOURAGED HIM TO SAY SOMETHING, i KNOW IT WAS A BAD IDEA BUT HE LOOKED SO HAPPY, i'LL FIND HIM,'  
  
 'i FOUND HIM'  
  
 'i'M GOING TO NEED A, uH, fIRST AID KIT FOR HIM'  
  
 'what diid he do?!'  
  
 'hE BUSTED HIS KNUCKLES ON A TREE, hE'S OKAY THOUGH, i'M TAKING HIM TO THE CLINIC FIRST'  
  
 'hE DOESN'T WANT TO COME BACK, bUT i THINK i HAVE HIM CONVINCED'


	9. Nine

 Sollux was sitting on his bed next to Eridan when everyone finally got back to the cabin. Feferi was sprawled across the mattress behind them when Karkat came in to let her know that Kanaya and Vriska were there if she wanted to go stay in their cabin again.  He also told them that Terezi was going to be sleeping next door because Tavros had decided he would be better off crashing with Gamzee to try and calm him down.  Eridan had been livid - he'd snatched his hand out of Sollux's and lost it.  
  
 "Calm him down?" Eridan shouted.  
  
 "Eridan, don't, you'll get too angry," Feferi pleaded as she sat up, hand outstretched toward him.  He shrugged her off and sneered at the door, looking beyond Karkat while his face turned red.  
  
 "No!  He could have seriously hurt you!  He could have hurt any of us!  You've told me what he can do, Fef!" Eridan snapped to his feet and started rolling up his sleeves as he made his way past Karkat. "I'm not havin' it, I'm going to have a talk with him," he growled.  Sollux jumped to his feet while Feferi squeaked and scrambled to join him.  
  
 "No no no, he has to calm down!" Feferi said with a full body tremble as she hurried after him.  Karkat raised an eyebrow as Sollux followed.  
  
 "What's her deal?" Karkat asked as they turned toward the door.  
  
 "I don't know, I'm not her keeper," Sollux replied before he darted out of the cabin and after a very furious looking Eridan and frantic Feferi who kept begging him to calm down.  Eridan stomped up the steps of the cabin with Feferi right on his heels, and let the screen door slam behind him with enough force that it made the entire front screen rattle as they went inside.  Sollux flinched as he drew closer, already hearing the shouts and Feferi's pleading underneath it.  When he heard Tavros raise his voice he bolted, because next was the booming voice that Gamzee adopted when he was going into a fit. It was a miracle that Eridan could be heard over it.  He yanked the screen door open, Karkat hot on his heels.  
  
 The front door flew open under his hand and he ran in just as Feferi let out a scream of pure terror, Eridan dropping to the floor in a twitching heap.  Feferi was by his side even though she was screaming at everyone, reaching out to loosen Eridan's tie with trembling hands as she told people around her to back up and make room.  No one budged, they all just stared on while Eridan twitched and his eyes rolled into the back of his fucking sockets and oh fuck he was having a _seizure_ on the floor of the cabin.  Fuck, Sollux had forgotten Eridan had seizures!  
  
 "Sollux!" Feferi's scream drew his attention away from Eridan, a pleading note in her voice. "Help me already!" she begged.  Sollux ran forward, helping with the tie and awkwardly undoing the first three buttons of Eridan's shirt as he twitched.  Feferi yanked a pillow off the nearest bed and stuffed it under Eridan's head as she rolled him onto his side. "Someone get a fuckin' doctor already!" she shouted.  Gamzee bolted out the door while Tavros dropped to one of the beds in shock, hands covering his face. "Karkat, don't let anyone else in, I'm beggin' you, he'll get so upset, _please_!" Feferi had a short conversation with Karkat over Sollux's head as he watched Eridan twitch and spasm on the floor.  He reached a hand out, cautious, but Feferi slapped his wrist away. "Don't, just let him get through it," she pleaded.  
  
 Sollux swallowed and rose to his knees, watching a trickle of blood slip between Eridan's lips. "Fuck, F.F., he'th bleeding, fuck, what do I _do_?!" Feferi grabbed him before he could move forward again, crowding in front of him to block his view.  
  
 "He just bit his tongue, that's normal, it happens a lot," she explained, voice hurried but still shaking.  She ran her hands over Sollux's face, catching his cheeks and wiping away tears he didn't even know he was shedding. "He'll be okay, as long as the seizure stops soon he'll be okay." She smiled and pulled him into a hug.  Sollux didn't really hug her back, just slumped against her as he listened to the dull twitch and thump just a few feet away.  
  
 "What happenth if it doethn't thtop thoon?" he asked in a whisper.  Feferi's swallow was audible as she pulled back and looked at her wristwatch.  
  
 "If a seizure lasts over five minutes we have to get him to a hospital," Feferi said, voice barely above a whisper.  Tavros gulped from his spot on the bed before burying his face in his hands even further.  
  
 "I... I didn't know, I wouldn't... oh my god I wouldn't have..." he broke off into hysterical tears and Feferi stood up so she could run over and mutter quiet reassurance, while Eridan's spasms slowed and finally stopped.  The blood on his cheek was dripping onto the pillow as his eyes fluttered in and out of focus.  
  
 "Sollux, support his head. Just keep talkin' to him until the doctor gets here," Feferi said as Tavros cried into her shirt. "I'd do it, but... well, you have eyes."  
  
 Sollux nodded and scooted over, lifting Eridan's head off the pillow and resting it in his lap, thumb wiping the blood away from his face. "Hey," he said, as softly as he could manage. "It'th okay now, I'm here." He ran his hand through Eridan's hair, already washed and in a heap of awkward curls.  Eridan made a short, aborted noise and Sollux chuckled, moving his hand away from Eridan's hair and rubbing down his back. "You really thcared me there, E.D.. Thank fuck for your thithter, becauthe I didn't know fuck all to do in that thituation." Sollux let himself ramble, then felt his heart lurch forward when Eridan reached up weakly and grabbed for one of his hands.  
  
 He gave it to him with a second thought, squeezing it and bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. "You're alright now," Sollux whispered, trying to keep his body from shaking and any more tears from falling. "You're alright, I'm here and I'm not leaving you." Sollux repeated it until his mind started to believe it, his heart rushing every time Eridan squeezed his hand back.  He didn't seem to be able to form any words yet, just slurred noises as he nuzzled closer to Sollux and shivered, tears in the corners of his eyes but not really falling.  Sollux wanted to scoop him up and kiss him again, hold him and swear to him he'd never have another seizure ever again, but he wasn't a miracle worker.  Eridan was going to suffer from seizures his entire life, and Sollux wouldn't be there for most of it... only now he was starting to realize just how much he wanted to.  It was twisted and wrong and too fast but... he wanted to be with Eridan.  
  
 Holy fuck.  
  
 Eridan finally formed a few half words as the doctor came rushing in, a simple, slurred 'Wha happen?' and nuzzled close to Sollux's belly.  Sollux was about to say something when the doctor instructed that Eridan sit up and look toward him.  There was a white hot flash of anger in Sollux's gut, but he covered it by helping Eridan prop himself up against his chest.  When the doctor asked if he'd sit up on his own, Eridan refused and slumped against Sollux with a shaky sigh.  
  
 "Feels like... cotton... in mah head," Eridan mumbled.  The doctor's face turned into a frown as he got out a small pen light, flicking it on and snapping his fingers in front of Eridan's face to get his attention before flashing the light right at his eyes.  Eridan hissed and turned, burying his face in Sollux's neck.  
  
 "Watch it," Sollux said, voice darker than he'd intended.  
  
 "He needs to get to a hospital. His eyes aren't dilating and if he's sensitive to that much light, he needs to be looked over and be monitored." The doctor stood up and waved at someone at the door.  
  
 "Don' wanna... no more hospitals no more." Eridan started whining and clutching at Sollux's shirt, begging for Sollux to make the man go away.  Sollux opened his mouth, ready to give in, but Feferi swooped in and started muttering in the thickest accent Sollux had ever heard from her.  He couldn't understand a word of it, but whatever she was saying was enough to calm Eridan down and make him run his fingers through his hair to try and get it into some sort of style before he gripped Sollux's shoulders. "Help me up." Eridan's accent was thick, but he made himself say each word slowly as he looked Sollux in the eyes.  
  
 Sollux nodded reluctantly and wrapped both his arms around Eridan's waist, pulling him to his feet as they both stood, Eridan moaning about getting up too fast. "Karkat, get me my phone," Feferi said, back to her normal light hearted tone, all traces of the Scottish war hero gone from her voice.  Karkat ran out after sending the doctor a harsh glare, he still hated anything to do with a hospital it seemed. "We're not going to some local hospital, Papa would have a fit," Feferi said as she tugged her shirt down and patted Tavros' back, standing and making herself look presentable. "I'll call him, he'll send a helicopter to air lift us to one he approves of." Feferi had gone from a bubbly sweet drop of sugar to scary and business whipped.  
  
 "Stop actin' like Mum, Fef.  You know that doesn't bloody well suit you in the slightest, makes you look like a manky git," Eridan mumbled, smirking as he pressed his face into Sollux's neck.  Sollux imagined the kiss there, he had to... fuck.  He pulled Eridan closer and breathed in, supporting them both with his weight.  
  
 "I'm not acting like Mum, she'd have threatened the life of all of the future unborn from now until eternity." Feferi mumbled the last bit and then looked herself over in the nearest mirror.  She fixed her hair and wiped the makeup off her cheeks the best she could. "Where's Karkat? I need to call Papa." Suddenly Feferi was a different person, poised and the face of something much darker than what Sollux knew her to be.  He thought he'd grown to understand Feferi. He'd thought he'd known who she was and what she would do for her friends and family.  
  
 Turned out he knew jack _shit_.  
  
 When Karkat came back in he tossed the pink mobile at Feferi's outstretched palm and she caught it without hesitation, shooshing the doctor out of the room with a single look.  Eridan looked up in time to see it, then snorted and went back to using Sollux as a personal body pole.  Feferi's voice was sweet and well tempered on the phone, though she kept a steady pace around the cabin as she spoke, so her voice faded in and out.  Eridan tugged at Sollux's collar and nodded toward the bed.  
  
 "Need ta sit down," Eridan mumbled.  Sollux was quick to oblige, shuffling them over to the bed and not even commenting when Eridan plopped down on one of his thighs.  Sollux let one of his arms wrap around Eridan's waist, the other resting against Eridan's thigh as they held hands. "Sorry about that, didn't think I was that upset, I can... normally tell before I get all twitchy," he muttered.  Sollux shook his head and smiled, hugging Eridan closer. "Shit, now I'll never see the end of Revenge ah the Nerds with you. Don't spoil it." Sollux laughed and ducked into himself when Feferi shot him a warning glare.  Eridan covered his own chuckle in Sollux's shoulder and shivered, squeezing his hand.  
  
 "You okay?" Sollux asked.  Eridan hummed and gave a nod, smiling up at him before his eyes closed.  
  
 "Just feel stuffed up," Eridan said slowly.  Sollux swallowed his worry and pulled him closer, head resting on Eridan's. "Thank you, for bein' there when I needed you," Eridan whispered.  Feferi turned and smiled, snapping her phone shut as she looked over at the doctor and then pulled a straight face.  
  
 "We're leaving. Make sure you take our names off the list of camp goers," she said with a wave of her hand. "Eridan," her voice changed and Sollux sighed in relief when it was back to sweet and gentle. "I'm going to go get your bags together, alright?  Will you be alright waiting here with Sollux?" she asked.  
  
 "I'll be fine, stop acting like such a berk. I _am_ older than you I _can_ take care ah myself." Feferi smiled and ruffled his hair out of place before hurrying out of the cabin. "Bugger off you right bitch!" Eridan shouted, or tried to at least, his voice wasn't getting very loud.  It caused him to shiver and curl into Sollux more, moaning in misery.  
  
 "You're thcaring me," Sollux muttered as he squeezed Eridan's hand and brought it up to his chest. "I don't know if you're going to be okay or not anymore."  Eridan tried to offer a reassuring smile, but it faltered at a twinge of pain from somewhere and he just curled closer, whimpering.  Sollux swallowed the water pooling in his mouth and urged his stomach to settle down. He could wait this feeling out, he had to.  There was no way he was going to move Eridan right now.  Not a single fucking way.  God he didn't ever want to let him go.  
  
 They sat there cuddled close and ignoring everyone else, Sollux rocking gently as he held Eridan as close as he could get him.  Before long, the roar of a helicopter overhead could be heard and Eridan whimpered as it cut to a steady thrum instead of a pounding beat above the cabins.  
  
 "I don't want to go," Eridan muttered.  
  
 "You had a theizure, you need to," Sollux said as he lifted his hand to smooth back Eridan's hair.  He didn't want Eridan to go either.  
  
 "... yeah, wish you could go with me," Eridan muttered.  Sollux didn't reply, just waited until Feferi came in with two men in black suits and a gurney.  He helped them get Eridan on the stupid thing and held his hand all the way to the door, then let him go when Karkat tugged him back behind the screen.  
  
 "K.K.," Sollux started, but his friend just held him tighter.  
  
 "Don't," Karkat said, watching as they pushed the gurney down the hill toward the main office.  
  
 "K.K. please, jutht let me-"  
  
 "Don't let Eridan be another Aradia," Karkat whispered into his friend’s ear.  Sollux let his friend take him back inside, and as the cabin shook from the start up of the helicopter he trembled and hurried to the bathroom.  His knees hit the tile and Karkat rubbed his back as he threw up in the toilet.  There were tears hitting the colored plastic of his glasses and he yanked them off, crying into the bowl and gripping the edge as Karkat tried to calm him down.  No one else came inside and all Sollux wanted to do was see Eridan.  
  
\--  
  
 Sollux went home the day after that, along with Terezi, Vriska, and Kanaya.  Karkat stayed when Gamzee asked him to and he told Sollux that he'd text him when he could, at least until he got home.  The first day back was too quiet, his laptop sitting on his desk with his copy of Revenge of the Nerds still unfinished and paused in the movie player.  He didn't turn it back on, just left it there and laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling until his dad brought him food.  He was carrying a tray and a small business card, trying to offer a smile.  
  
 "Hey kiddo." His dad smiled and set the tray down on the desk by laptop, holding up the card. "I... found this when I was bringing your stuff in. Well, the stuff you brought back at least.  I didn't know you were looking into speech therapy, I thought you were okay with your lisp." Sollux sat up and took the card from him, looking over the little thing Eridan had flicked at him when they met.  He choked back a laugh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Has it been getting worse again, the lisping?" Sollux looked up and raised an eyebrow.  
  
 "What are you talking about, why would it be getting worthe?" he asked.  His dad gave him a weak smile and sat down on the bed. He looked like a giant five year old about to kick his feet back and forth.  
  
 "When your mother left, it got worse, when Arad-"  
  
 "Don't."  
  
 "A.A.," his father corrected as Sollux turned to look at the wall. "When she left, it got worse.  When you met your friends it slowly started getting better, but with the stress of this trip, it started getting worse again... and after what you saw..." His dad looked down at his feet and frowned. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do this to fit in, it's your voice and it's how you talk.  If you do decide to do this, let me and Craig know, alright?  We'll be here to support you, one hundred percent." He smiled and stood. "Now eat your vegetables this time." Sollux smirked and looked at the card again as his dad walked to the door.  
  
 Before he could step out of the room, Sollux stopped him. "Hey, dad, you do know I call Craig my pop, right?  You're my dad, but he'th my father?" Sollux watched as his dad bit back a smile, nodding. "I'll give thith a thought, I'll let you know." He smiled and watched as the door clicked shut.  After a few minutes he sat up and grabbed his phone off the charger and sent a text message to Feferi.  
  
 'how'2 ed?'  
  
 He put the phone back on the charger and set his laptop on a shelf, powering up his desktop as he picked up his fork and avoided the vegetables on his plate.  He logged onto his online school and searched through any classes he could do over the summer to keep himself occupied.  He signed up for two and then started poking at his vegetables, frowning when Feferi didn't text him back.  In fact, he didn't get a text until the next day.  
  
\--  
  
 'He's sc)(eduled for surgery.'  
  
 'plea2e keep me updated.'  
  
 'I w)(ale'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even sorry.


	10. Ten

 Sollux decided to go to speech therapy just to see what all the commotion was about, and a week later he had an appointment booked and still no word from Feferi.  He had an hour with a speech therapist who was surprisingly not as expensive as Sollux had thought she'd be from her card, and she'd asked him to talk.  That was it, tell a story, read a book out loud, do whatever he liked, just as long as he talked.  
  
 So he called Karkat.  
  
 And put him on speaker so they could talk about who was the better gamer, which was interrupted by Terezi coming over to Karkat's cabin, and then continued when she joined the conversation.  
  
 Needless to say the therapist requested next session he not bring his cell phone into the room.  Or the building.  Or the car on the way to the building.  
  
 His dad had berated him senseless, but Craig had told him he'd buy him something special for being so creative, which led to a small fight between his parents that lasted the total sum of two hours and twenty two minutes.  His parents were drama queens after all.  Sollux was sitting at his desk later that night, knocking out another assignment when his phone rang.  He answered it without thought, fingers still flying across the keyboard.  
  
 "Captor speaking." He was proud of being able to say that much when he concentrated.  The phone was silent for a while and he paused, pulling it away from his ear to see the timer still running.  Then he saw Feferi's name underneath it and he pressed the phone back to his ear. "F.F.?"  
  
 "He's in a coma." Her voice was flat and barely above a whisper.  
  
 "... What?" Sollux deadpanned.  
  
 "They found a crack in the back of his skull and went in to repair it and something happened and there was swelling and... and now they said he might not wake up." Her voice shook near the middle, then broke into flat nothing all over again. "I can't... Sollux I can't do this without him. I know he drives me insane but he's my brother. What do I... what do I do?" she whimpered, and Sollux could feel all the color drain from his body, his hands shaking.  He held himself steady on the desk, listening to the sudden beeping in the background, the clang of metal, the wheeze of air.  
  
 Oh god, she was in Eridan's room.  She was in the hospital room with Eridan. He was right _there_.  
  
 "Put me on thpeaker," Sollux said, all attempt to keep his lisp at bay gone.  Feferi mumbled an affirmative, and then the beeping got louder.  
  
 "You're on it," Feferi said weakly. "It's just me and Eridan in here, be nice."  
  
 "I will," Sollux said before he swallowed the lump in his throat. "E.D.?" he waited but got nothing. "E.D. you have to wake up, do you underthtand me?  Fuck, understand, hear that?  I'm going to speech therapy becauthe you thuggested it, tho just... jutht wake up, for F.F., and for me, and everyone." Sollux swallowed the lump in his throat as he heard Feferi break down and begin to cry. "Get up thoon, E.D., they probably ruined your hair, you need to fix that..." Sollux wiped his own tears away and closed his eyes when he heard Feferi start sobbing into one of the pillows.  It hurt so much, and Eridan wasn't awake to hush her tears, or tell her to stop being a baby, or any of that.  Eridan might never be awake. "F.F. hang up pleathe jutht fucking hang up." The line went dead and Sollux dropped his phone onto his desk and screamed.  
  
\--  
  
 Over the next six months Sollux continued to go to speech therapy, finished what should have been all of high school, and had Feferi call him once a week to put him on speaker phone with Eridan so he could read him a few chapters from the nerdiest books he could find since they couldn't watch movies.  He started out with _The Hobbit_ and worked his way up from there, taking suggestions from Feferi and occasionally having short conversations with Eridan's father, Dualscar Ampora, who thanked him endlessly for his support.  His accent was so thick Sollux almost didn't understand him, but he caught on quickly and realized where Eridan had gotten his air of douche bag.  He also knew that he really did love his son, and he was never going to give up hope.  
  
 Turns out his dad knew Mr. Ampora, and they went way back on some business deal from when Sollux and Eridan were kids.  Once he stumbled upon Eridan's mother, but she didn't stay very long, and Sollux was thankful because the woman was terrifying, even if it was just a clipped conversation had over the phone.  Feferi was the one that was there mostly, and on occasion one of their friends that Feferi had begged over.  As much as Sollux hated to admit it, after his birthday had come and gone, he could hear the lack of confidence in Feferi's voice every time he called.  She was giving up the longer this went on, and Sollux knew she was tired of rolling her brother onto his sides so he wouldn't get bedsores.  
  
 Still, he called every week and turned down every visitation that was extended to him.  He couldn't go yet. He still hadn't figured out what he wanted, if it was just a fleeting mess because he missed Aradia... if he even missed Aradia anymore, or if what he felt had been real.  Eridan was his friend, a bit of a dick, but still someone Sollux cared about.  He'd been neglecting late night Minecraft Mondays and WoW Wednesdays to call Eridan instead of kick Terezi's ass.  
  
 Which he still had yet to do.  
  
 But he was taller now, in need of a serious haircut, and seventeen going on exhausted.  He didn't lisp anymore at least, so that was a big bonus. He only did that when he was really upset or stopped paying attention.  Right now he was reading from the end of _The Game of Thrones_ and doing his best comedic voice for some random character when Feferi's voice caught his attention.  
  
 "You said that wrong," she mumbled.  
  
 "Huh?" Sollux asked, breaking his character and putting his finger on the line he'd been reading.  
  
 "Whenever you say something wrong, his eyelids flutter like he's rolling them." Feferi sounded like she was trying to laugh, but it wasn't in her. "I really wish you'd come see him, he at least reacts when you talk to him," she sighed and Sollux could imagine her pulling her hair. "I need someone to come take my place, I can't keep doing this. I'm going to go mad."  
  
 "F.F., we both know there's only room for one drama queen here, and he's asleep right now," Sollux said with a fond smile.  Feferi laughed at that and then sighed near the phone receiver.  
  
 "Come over, Sollux, he'd want to see you," Feferi said sternly. "Come over, bring your books, bring your laptop, stay the night, hold his hand, tell him you love him."  
  
 "I don't-"  
  
 "Don't _lie_ to me either. I put diamonds at the ends of our conversations because a diamond is a friendship that will last forever.  Eridan told me that when I was little and I'll always believe it, so don't treat that like it's nothing!  I know you love him, end of the story." Feferi hung up before Sollux could say anything else.  He glared at his phone and shoved a bookmark in between the pages he was reading before he stomped away from his desk and flopped onto his bed.  He wanted to call Feferi back and scream at her, tell her she was lying, but then again he didn't know if she was because he didn't even know how he felt.  How did somebody even tell something like that?  He thumbed through his contacts and hovered over Kanaya's number. She'd know what do right?  
  
 He imagined her answering. 'Shinny white boy, you are deranged and out of your mind, blah blah advice laced under insults wrapped in cotton with lesbian overtones let me put you on hold whilst I makeout with Vriska blah blah.'  
  
 He scrolled past her and stopped over a number he hadn't called in a while. He checked the time and shrugged before entering it in.  A few rings later and the phone clicked, then laughter of the honking variety hit his ears, then Karkat's gruff shouting and Terezi's cackling.  
  
 "Hello?" Tavros' voice was easy and delighted and Sollux could hear Gamzee close by.  Very close by, like right by Tavros' ear close.  
  
 "Whose that, baby?  Who has you all beaming like my sunshine?" Gamzee asked against the phone.  
  
 Oh.  
  
  _Well_ then.  
  
 "It's Sollux, shush, I can't hear him," Tavros said, voice sweet. "You still there?" he asked.  
  
 "Yeah, you seem busy," Sollux muttered. "Should I call you back?" he asked.  Tavros laughed and Sollux heard a slight smack.  
  
 "Gamzee stop, I'm on the phone, wait until I'm off," Tavros whispered. "Yes, I know, I taste like peanut butter, I'm still on the phone."  
  
 "I take full blame for you both tasting like sandwich stuffing!" Terezi shouted. "Karkat is ketchup!  Is that Sollux?  Tell him he's next!  I'm coming with honey mustard baby, I'm _coming_!" Terezi cackled and ran from the room. Karkat must have followed her from the sound of the cursing.  
  
 "Sorry!" Tavros said with a laugh. "You can talk to me, I'm here, don't worry," Tavros said, sounding more relaxed than Sollux had heard him in a while.  He smiled and rubbed at his temples, staring up at his ceiling with a laugh.  
  
 "I'm stupid," Sollux started out. "That was a statement, not a question, no arguing, I actually have a question." Sollux sighed and let his eyes fall shut. "How do you... how do you know if you love someone?" he asked.  Tavros was quiet for a while, then he mumbled something to Gamzee and the phone was passed.  
  
 "This about your Eribro?" Gamzee asked. "Course it is, it's you," Gamzee said before Sollux could reply.  
  
 "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
 "You call that boy every week, he ain't even fuckin' awake and you call him up to _read_ to him.  Takes a real love like that to keep goin' as long as you did. I hope I love my Tavbro that much," Gamzee said, Sollux could hear the smile.  
  
 "You do though, Gamzee, I love you too," Tavros mumbled.  
  
 "Please don't start macking on the phone with me sitting by the receiver, _please_ ," Sollux begged. "Are you... are you sure that's love and not just, friendship?  I only knew him for a week..." Sollux muttered.  
  
 "I fell in love with Gamzee the first day I met him, but I never said anything until a few weeks ago," Tavros chimed in.  
  
 "Congratz on that," Sollux mumbled.  
  
 "Thanks Solbro, but trust me, you're head over footsie pajamas for that motherfucker, why ain't you been up to see him?  Cupcake Princess is all tuckered out, she could use a day off, and the girl don't trust many people with her Prince an' you know it," Gamzee said, and Sollux could hear his grin. "You love him, go wake him up, get that sleeping beauty his Disney Prince."  
  
 Sollux smiled and hung up when he heard his friends laugh as Karkat and Terezi reentered the room.  He could do this, he could see him... he could wake him up.  
  
\--  
  
 Sollux was sitting in the chair beside Eridan's bed, staring at the heart monitor as Feferi scooped up her messenger bag and kissed his cheek. "I'll only be out to lunch, I'll be back before either of you know it." She smiled and reached over to kiss Eridan's cheek as well, then hurried out of the room.  Sollux swallowed and looked over at Eridan as he lay in the bed without even a twitch.  His hair was a mess.  He was pale and his arms looked raw and pinpricked, scabbed over with old I.V. lines.  The machines around him made Sollux nervous.  He heaved a sigh and dragged a book from his bag, swallowing his nerves so he didn't have to look at this shell of his best friend.  
  
 This guy he was apparently in love with.  
  
 "You're going to hate me so much, but I'm rereading the last one.  Feferi said you rolled your eyes so hard when I read it through the first time." Sollux smiled, imaging the scene all over again, only this time this lump of a man tried to replace the teen from six months ago and he shook his head and flopped the book on the bed.  He reached out, scooping Eridan's hand into his own and squeezing before he started, hoping this would do something.  
  
 Later, after the sun had went down and Feferi had come back, after he'd been brought food and Mr. Ampora has stopped in the doorway for a few minutes, after the sun was starting to rise again, Sollux sighed and looked over at the still unmoving Eridan. "And quite honestly, I've had enough trouble for a life time," he read.

  Nothing happened.  Sollux let out a shaking whimper and leaned over, pressing his lips to Eridan's before he sat back in his chair. "Just wake up," he grumbled before turning the page. "Last part," he said as he glued his eyes to the book.  
  
 "If you start readin' that epilogue I will never let you kiss me _ever_ again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just going to sit here and await the flood of your emotions now. Thank you all for joining me in this adventure. Keep an eye out for more things in the SMU universe as yes, there will be more.


End file.
